The Future is Back TCotPBOOK 1
by The Inner Genie
Summary: CHAPTER 5 IS UP! EPILOGUE, TOO. The Children of the Plateau are stranded in the past with our gang of year-three. Are these children from our adventurers' future? Or not? Please read and review. (Chapters 7&8 are blank. I can't seem to remove them.)
1. The Adventure Begins

The Future is Back By The Inner Genie 3/15/02 Disclaimer: I own these children but not the characters of The Lost World. The story was written purely for my own amusement and not for profit (as if!). Please let me know what you think of it.  
  
Our explorers have been stranded on the plateau of the Lost World for almost fifteen years. What changes have taken place? Who has survived? Who has paired up with whom? (As if we didn't know) Could the explorers of year-three imagine what their future holds in store for them?  
  
CHAPTER 1 - The Adventure Begins  
  
The sound of shrill voices floated up through the forest canopy followed by the distinct, gleeful chortle of childish laughter.  
  
"Stop that, William!" scolded nine and a half year old Victoria. "You know Edward is afraid of spiders."  
  
She stooped down to hug the crying little boy.  
  
"It's all right, Edward. The spider's gone, now. Will was just mad because you beat him in the race." She patted him on the back. "You can really run fast, can't you?"  
  
Edward's lifted his tear stained face and gave Victoria a watery smile. "My Mom's been running with me. She's the fastest runner on the plateau." His face glowed now with pride. "I bet she can run faster than a raptor!"  
  
"Ha, bet she can't." challenged William. He strutted around the two on the ground, his swagger very much like his father's. "He only beat me 'cause he's eight and I'm only seven," he insisted. "But, I'm bigger than he is and I'll beat him next time, for sure."  
  
Victoria stood up and gave her younger brother a discussed look.  
  
"Stop your bragging, Will," she said. "Come, Edward. Let's go play with Alice and Summer.  
  
She imperiously stalked off, tall and graceful, the very image of her mother. Her long, black hair was tied back with a pale, blue strip of cloth the same color as the loose shift she wore on this hot, humid morning. She didn't need to look back. She knew he would follow.  
  
Edward jumped up and scampered after her, his mop of blond curls glinting in the sun. He was small for his age, but well proportioned and muscular. His skin was tanned to a golden glow and his blue eyes followed Victoria's retreating form with look of hero worship that she was only too aware of.  
  
Will scowled and clenched his fists, then he, too, followed his sister.  
  
Alice and Summer sat in the shade beside a small, gurgling stream. They were playing with the dolls their Grandma had made for them out of raptor hide and cloth scraps. Alice, six years old, was kneeling over a carefully arranged pile of sticks and rocks which could, given a good imagination, be called furniture. Her long, golden hair fell forward to cover her face as she gently placed pieces of moss on a flat rock.  
  
"There, Summer," she announced with satisfaction, "that can be their bed."  
  
Four year old Summer put her doll on top of the mossy rock and sang, "Sleep tight, Dolly, don't let the raptors bite."  
  
Alice laughed with delight at the little girl. She loved Summer with all her heart. She swore that she could remember when Summer was born, although she was only two at the time. She had bonded with the dark hair, dark eyed baby at once and even though she was only her "cousin", she loved her like a sister.  
  
Summer grew from a fussy, demanding baby into a stubborn, impulsive child. Her father dotingly called her his "little terror", for even though she always wanted things her way, she had a kind heart and an unexpectedly empathetic nature that made her a favorite with everyone. She was also clever and funny. She was not a beautiful child like her brother and sister, but, with her squinty, dark eyes, lopsided, dimpled smile and an already droll sense of humor, she was quickly developing into a child with a strong, charismatic character. The other children, quite without realizing it, were already starting to follow her lead. Which often got them into trouble. Big trouble.  
  
Suddenly Alice stopped laughing. She was instantly alert when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Even though the children were allowed to play without adult supervision in the "safe zone" that had been created around the tree houses, they had been taught, from the time they could toddle, to be aware of the dangers always present in the thick, dense jungle around them. She shushed Summer with a wave of her hand and listened intently.  
  
Then she relaxed and smiled when she heard Will's loud voice complaining about "playing with girls". She stood up to wait for her friends to join them.  
  
Standing there in the dappled shadows, it was easy to see that Alice would be a beauty. Her hair, like her brother Edward's, was blond and curly, but long, flowing down to her waist. Her skin was flawless, golden brown where the sun had touched it. Her large, blue eyes were kind and almost always twinkled with happiness. She was unfailingly good-natured and loyal to those she loved. She looked for the best in people and people responded by trying to be their best around her. The adults over-protected her, not wanting her to see the uglier side of life on the wild and often vicious jungle plateau where they were stranded. Alice kindly let them, but she was perfectly aware of the dangers around her. For all her sweet nature and innocent demeanor, she was a strong, smart little girl. She instinctively knew she would need all the survival skills she could learn to protect her loved ones, and that was something that she was determined to do. She had begged her mother and her Uncle John to let her join the shooting lessons the older children were given. Reluctantly, they had finally agreed, but secretly thought her too fragile and timid to last long at it. She was to start her lessons tomorrow. She could hardly wait.  
  
"There you are, Alice," said Victoria as she and the boys threw themselves down in the shade.  
  
Suddenly Victoria was attacked by a small, brown whirlwind. Summer came at her, her small arms flailing. She pushed and pummeled her big sister with her fists. Victoria raised her hands up to ward off the blows.  
  
"Move, Tori, move!" Summer shoved her harder. "You're sitting on my Dolly! Move!"  
  
"Stop, Summer!" squealed Victoria. "Get her off of me, Will!"  
  
Will, who had gotten out of the way, was standing with his arms folded across his chest, a slight smile on his lips. He was secretly happy to see his bossy older sister on the receiving end of Summer's wrath, but he knew, for his own safety, that he had better step in.  
  
He grabbed his little sister's arm and pulled her back. "Now get up, Tori, and give Summer back her doll."  
  
Victoria scrambled to her feet, reached down, picked up the rather flattened doll and held it out to her sister. "Really, Summer," she said with as much dignity as she could muster, "you must learn not to leave your toys lying on the ground. Here's your silly doll."  
  
With her doll clutched tightly to her chest, Summer calmed down as quickly as she had flared up.  
  
"Really, Tori," she mimicked perfectly, "you must learn to look before you plop your big bum down on the ground."  
  
The other children started laughing. Summer stared at Victoria with her lopsided smile until even she too had to laugh.  
  
"Sorry, Summer," she said sheepishly.  
  
"Hey, I have a great idea," Alice, the peacemaker, spoke up. "Let's get our spears and go to the target grounds and practice." All of the children were taught to throw a spear from the time they were two.  
  
"Yeah!" yelled both boys. They were always eager to compete. Victoria took a few seconds to decide if she wanted to go. In reality, she just loved to be begged and Alice didn't mind feeding her insatiable need for attention.  
  
"Come with us, Tori. Please! Edward will carry your spear. Won't you, Edward?" she asked, turning to her big brother. She knew he would. Edward had always been under Victoria's spell and no matter how often Will tried to straighten him out about her he wouldn't listen.  
  
"Well, sure, Tori. I'll carry your spear. Sure." Edward assured her eagerly.  
  
Will groaned and turned his back on the pitiful sight. The Malone children were just too easy going for his taste.  
  
"Come on," he snapped and then he said with a widening grin. "And since dear Victoria won't be carrying a spear, she can carry Summer across the stream."  
  
"But of course I will," Victoria answered in her sweetest voice. "Come to Tori, sweet Summer Leigh," she cooed, holding out her arms.  
  
Summer, with a knowing glance at Will, launched her solid little body into her sister's waiting arms, nearly sending them both to the ground. Victoria managed to stay upright, however, and staggered across the knee- deep stream with her precious burden.  
  
The children quickly gathered their spears and slingshots from the storage shed and headed to the practice grounds.  
  
The practice ground was a long, wide meadow. Short grasses, studded with small, bright flowers created a perfect carpet for the children to play on. The targets, made from hides stuffed with grasses, were placed at the end of the meadow. Behind the targets was a shear cliff that rose up a hundred meters into the air. The electrified perimeter fence wasn't needed here. It was decided that the cliff was steep enough to keep out not only the dinosaurs that inhabited the plateau but also any hostile tribes.  
  
The meadow was a favorite gathering place for the ever-growing Challenger Expedition gang and their great friends from the Zanga village. They would often hold picnics there. Some of these gatherings lasted for days with whole families camping out under the stars. The children would run around, playing with the Zanga children and the adults would hold competitions among themselves. It seemed that the sun always shone on the meadow. The grass was always springy and thick, it never worn down no matter how many people played, and tromped, and ran over it. The meadow was a magic place for the children and adults, too.  
  
Young Will Roxton strode into the meadow ahead of the other children. He wanted to be sure to claim his lucky target before Victoria could assign him a different one. Tori, being the oldest child, and the bossiest, too, in his opinion, always took it upon herself to see that the other children played by the rules, her rules. He had to admit he didn't understand his big sister or his mother either, for that matter. They both seemed to react to the simplest things in a totally unreasonable manner. Will had talked to his father about this problem but his Dad had just shrugged his shoulders. "Son," he laughed, "I've tried for years to figure out your mother and then your big sister and I have come to only one conclusion.they are just two more mysteries of the plateau." Will hoped that someday he could laugh about them, too.  
  
The other children soon entered the meadow excitedly talking about what weapons they would be using, how well they did last time and how much better they hoped to do this time. They were only allowed three types of weapons.spears, slingshots and stones. Tori soon had them lined up in "Victoria order", Edward, Alice, Summer, Will and lastly, Victoria. She very graciously put herself last so that she "didn't discourage the younger children from trying".  
  
At first the children encouraged each other. Will even praised Edward when he hit the target with a stone from his slingshot. Alice and Summer got to stand closer to the target because of their age, so when it was their turn, they were very successful. But soon the boys did get discouraged. Victoria hit the target almost every time, which soon brought the boys together in a fierce competition with her. They took turns trying to distract her just as she was making her shot. They were so intent on this game that they weren't paying attention to the two little girls.  
  
Alice and Summer had wandered off when it was clear to them that they wouldn't be getting a turn anytime soon. They had spotted a patch of funny looking, twirling blue mist between two large bushes on the edge of the meadow. At first, they just stood and looked at it. Then Alice picked up a stone and flung it at the phenomenon. The stone didn't seem to fall through the mist, it appeared to be sucked in. Summer giggled. She picked up a stick and threw it in. The stick disappeared, too. The girls looked at each other and giggled again. Soon they were throwing everything they could get their little hands on into the swirling mist. They were laughing hysterically when Summer made a big mistake. In her frenzy to throw things in faster than Alice did, she picked up her Dolly and, before she realized what she was doing, she flung her precious toy in and watched as the mist sucked it into its blue, swirling center. With a shout of "My Dolly!" Summer leaped after her doll. The mist closed around her.  
  
Alice screamed.  
  
Victoria, Will, and Edward froze as they heard the little girl's screams. Then, as one, they hefted their spears and ran as quickly as they could towards the sound of Alice's wails. All three of them felt a wave of guilt as they realized that they had not been watching the younger ones as they should have been.  
  
Edward in the lead, they soon found Alice jumping up and down and calling their names.  
  
"Oh, Edward," she cried, as her big brother came running towards her. "Summer ran into the mist and she hasn't come out! Find her! Please find her!"  
  
Victoria and Will came rushing up, holding their spears at the ready.  
  
"What happened, Alice?" Tori demanded. "Where's Summer?"  
  
Alice turned her tear stained face towards her. "In there," she wailed, pointing to the blue mist. "She ran into the mist after her Dolly. She shouldn't have thrown it in. It was her best dolly!"  
  
The boys and Victoria stared at the swirling, blue fog and lowered their spears. Victoria knelt down before the weeping, small girl and put her hands on her shoulders.  
  
"Calm down, Alice, and tell us what happened."  
  
With many tears and sniffles, Alice told them how she and Summer were having so much fun throwing sticks and stones into the mist until Summer threw her Dolly in by mistake and then leapt after it.  
  
"She shouldn't have done that!" the little girl repeated. "That was her favorite. Oh, where is she? Why doesn't she come out?"  
  
Victoria stood up to take stock of the situation, but Will was on the move. He ran around behind the bushes to see if Summer was there. He came back almost immediately, shaking his head.  
  
"She's not behind there," he announced. "In fact, there's no mist behind the bushes, nor any stones or sticks or dolls or anything!"  
  
"All right, then," decided Victoria. "I'll go through the mist and bring Summer back. If I don't come straight back," she pointed at Edward, the fastest runner, "you run to the treehouse and get Dad."  
  
Alice was having none of that.  
  
"No, Tori. Don't go in there! Please!" she begged. "It sucks things in. You'll get sucked in just like Summer. Please don't! Let's get our dads to help us."  
  
Victoria looked at the small girl and made up her mind.  
  
"Alice, dear, if we go running to our parents every time Summer gets into trouble, they won't let us go out by ourselves. No, we have to take care of this." Her voice was determined and the other children knew it was useless to try to change her mind.  
  
"It'll be easy. I'll just reach into the mist to see if I can grab her. Everyone hold on to me so that I won't get sucked in and when I get hold of Summer, you all pull us out. Got it?"  
  
The other children certainly didn't want to have to go back to the humiliation of having an adult with them whenever they played outside, so with nods all around, the children grabbed onto Victoria. Alice got a firm grip on her dress and Will and Edward held her left arm and hand.  
  
"Ouch! Don't squeeze my arm so hard, Will," admonished Tori. "Okay," she announced when Will loosened his grip somewhat, "now I'm going to stick my head and arm into here and when I yell "now", all of you pull me back as hard as you can."  
  
Victoria held her right arm out in front of her and stuck it into the twirling mist. She moved it around but couldn't feel anything. Taking a deep breath, she pushed her head in after her arm. The other children leaned back as hard as they could when they felt Tori being tugged out of their grasp. But it was no use. With a small shriek from Alice, their feet left the ground and all four children were pulled into the hungry vortex.  
  
(To be continued) 


	2. Meetings and Misunderstandings

Previously: Summer Leigh Roxton, age four, had jumped into a swirling, blue misty portal to retrieve her Dolly that she had carelessly thrown into it. Not long afterwards, in an attempt to rescue Summer, her brother Will, seven, her sister Victoria, almost ten, and the Malone children, Edward, eight, and Alice, five, were sucked into the vortex as well.  
  
CHAPTER 2 – Meetings and Misunderstandings  
  
Summer popped out of the other side of the swirling fog with a soft thwopping sound. She stood for a moment swaying slightly. Quickly recovering, she looked desperately around for her doll.  
  
Searching through the small piles of stones and sticks that were scattered over the ground, she muttered to herself, "Come on, Dolly. Stop hiding. I'm sorry I threw you in."  
  
Exasperation quickly overcame her soft entreaties. Summer stood up and balled her little fists on her hips. She stomped her foot on the ground and scolded in an exact imitation of her mother.  
  
"Dolly, you need to come here, now! I am too tired and upset to hunt for you. Really, you are being an impossible child!"  
  
Her sharp little eyes were darting around as she spoke and at last they were rewarded with the sight of her doll hanging limply from a low branch of a thorny bush. Summer lost no time in running over to the bush and tugging her Dolly free. The doll's dress caught on one of the thorns and a small piece of cloth was left dangling from the branch.  
  
"Oh, Dolly," Summer sighed as she hugged the doll to her chest. "You've torn your best dress." She rolled her eyes as she continued in her "mother mode", "How am I ever to teach you to be a lady in this God-forsaken wilderness?"  
  
As Summer realized that her quest for her doll was over, her mother's dramatic side quickly gave way to her father's more practical side. She looked around and didn't see Alice or the mist or anything familiar. She fell back on her tried and true method of getting attention. She hollered.  
  
"Alice! Tori! Will 'n Edward! Come and find me! I'm right here!" she yelled. She waited for an answering shout and when none was forthcoming, she felt her temper rising. She clutched her doll tightly in her hand and marched back between the bushes she had emerged from just a short time ago.  
  
The meadow was there, but it looked different to her. If she were older and more verbal, she would have said that the trees and scrubs that hemmed in the large rectangle of grass were smaller and fewer, that the underbrush had not been cleared away from under the leafy, overhanging branches to create shady hideaways.  
  
No, she couldn't say why it looked different, but what she did notice was that the other children were not in sight. As a puzzled expression replaced the angry frown on her tiny face, she noticed something else…the targets at the bottom of the cliff wall were gone!  
  
Her puzzlement was followed swiftly by the first tingling of fear. The wind that blew across the meadow whipped her hair around her face. The sun that had lately shone down on the five children playing hunters in the meadow was hiding behind large, gray clouds. The beautiful meadow, where she had had nothing but happy times surrounded by her family and friends, now made her feel exposed and afraid. She had never been completely alone before but now she couldn't "feel" anyone near her. Summer didn't have to think twice about what to do. It was time to call in the big guns. She ran across the meadow, heading towards the pathway that she hoped would lead to the treehouse, yelling as loudly as she could, "Daddy! Mama!"  
  
As she reached the other side and disappeared into the dark overhang of the jungle canopy, two raptors stepped out of the shadow of the cliff face and into the meadow. They snorted as they lifted their long noses into the air. An unfamiliar scent wafted on the breeze as it blew across the grassy field. The scent may have been unfamiliar, but the message it sent to the hungry raptors was clear. Ahead was prey. They sniffed the air again and then took off across the meadow.  
  
The raptors had no sooner been swallowed by the jungle shadows then four children came tumbling out of the air behind a bush on the other side of the meadow. All four landed in a heap, with the unfortunate Victoria on the bottom of the pile.  
  
"Ouch, Alice, your elbow is in my eye!  
  
"Well, Edward is on top of me and I can't move!" Alice said in an annoyed voice as she shoved her brother.  
  
Will was the first one on his feet. He reached down and pulled Edward off of Alice. Poor Edward had hit his head on a rock and was valiantly trying not to cry.  
  
"Are you okay, old man?" Will asked kindly.  
  
Edward nodded his head, rubbing the sore spot.  
  
"Will, help me up, please," begged Victoria as Alice rolled off of her and staggered to her feet. "I'm sure there's a bug down my socking and I've got dirt all over my dress!"  
  
"Really, Tori," Will said with disgust as he and Alice hoisted Victoria to her feet and she commenced hopping around on one foot trying to pull her shoe and stocking off. "All this fuss over a tiny bug. I thought you were the fearless huntress."  
  
"Do shut up, Will," she said as she sat down and peered inside her stocking.  
  
Alice had heard enough.  
  
"Would you two stop bickering!" she scolded. "We have to find Summer and I don't see her anywhere!"  
  
The other three were instantly sobered as they remembered their mission.  
  
Victoria hastily pulled her stocking back up and slipped on her shoe. She leapt to her feet.  
  
"Alice is right, boys," she said as if they were the ones holding them up. "Summer must be here somewhere."  
  
They all started looking around and calling Summer's name.  
  
"Well, she's not here," said Will, after fifteen minutes of fruitless searching. He folded his arms across his chest. "She probably went back to the treehouse." He was thoroughly sick and tired of his sisters and their problems.  
  
"Summer wouldn't know the way back to the treehouse," Edward argued. Alice nodded in agreement.  
  
"She's too little to be on her own." Alice clasped her hands in agitation. She was getting very worried about her little friend.  
  
"Fine," Victoria snapped. "Let's head back to the treehouse and get our parents to help us look for her. Mark my words…Summer is going to get us all grounded. Oh, why does she have to be so troublesome?" Victoria stomped off. She really did love her little sister, but this wasn't the first time Summer had gotten them all into trouble.  
  
Will and Edward raced past Victoria and rushed through the bushes into the meadow. The girls nearly bumped into them when they stopped short. Victoria was about to make a cutting remark when she saw what had pulled them up short.  
  
The meadow, their meadow, had changed. It didn't look right, it didn't feel right and it didn't smell right.  
  
The children stood, clustered together, trying to understand what had happened. Alice slipped her hand into Victoria's. A stiff breeze blew over them. The sunny morning had turned into a cloudy, gray afternoon. The wind whipped the branches of the dark, shadowy trees on the other side of the meadow. The children stepped closer to one another.  
  
"What happened?" whispered Edward. "I don't like this."  
  
Will was looking on the ground for their spears. He whispered, as if to himself, "I can't see our spears anywhere!" His eyes quickly searched the rest of the area. With a look of mounting fear, he pointed towards the base of the cliff. "The targets are gone, too!"  
  
Alice began to whimper. Victoria pulled her closer to her side. Being the eldest was no longer a pleasure, it was now a burden. She knew that she needed to get the younger children to safety.  
  
"Okay, everyone. We must be brave," she said encouragingly. "We're going back to the treehouse as quickly as we can and we'll look for Summer on the way. I'm sure our parents can explain everything to us."  
  
The tiny, frightened, but determined band of children walked quickly across the meadow only stopping to fill their pockets with stones and to pick up sturdy looking sticks for spears. They were young, but they had been well trained to survive on the strange plateau that was their home.  
  
**  
  
Things were not going well for Summer. It was dark under the trees and the path was not clearly marked. Twice she had tripped over exposed roots and fallen hard. But the little girl was brave like her father and stubborn like her mother. She wasn't about to give up once she had made a plan. She picked herself up each time, brushed herself off, and, clutching her Dolly even more tightly to her small chest, she continued her quest to find the treehouse.  
  
Pausing to pull a stick out of her shoe, she thought she heard animal sounds behind her, sounds she had heard only at a distance before. She increased her pace as best she could in the tangle of vines that wove themselves back and forth across the ill-defined path. She was just beginning to think that she wasn't going the right way when a very welcome sight loomed up in the path ahead of her.  
  
A grouping of tall, spiky stones blocked her way. They seemed to have grown out of the ground. Each stone was separated from its neighbor by small slits and crevices, until they reached about fifteen or twenty feet into the air. At that height, they widened out, pointing like giant claws towards the very top of the jungle canopy far, far overhead.  
  
But Summer saw nothing sinister or frightening in their formation. She was delighted to see them, because she knew them well. The children often played in between the towering monoliths finding hideaways where their parents couldn't reach them.  
  
"Look, Dolly," she whispered to her favorite. "It's the castle. We are on the right path and we'll be home very soon.  
  
This happy thought was cut short by a very loud snorting sound behind her. Without stopping to think, Summer quickly squeezed herself into a narrow crevice in the nearest stone and ,sliding her small body through the familiar maze, soon reached the center of the "castle".  
  
The two raptors that had been following the small girl leapt out of the bushes onto the path where just seconds ago their prey had been standing. The path was empty. They howled their fury at being denied their meal. They blinked their evil, yellow eyes rapidly as they looked around the small clearing. They lifted their noses into the air and snuffled and snorted trying to pick up the scent.  
  
Summer, huddled in the very center of the tall stones, stuffed her Dolly into her dress pocket and pulled her knees up to her chin. She clamped her hands over her ears as hard as she could. She didn't know exactly what was making that horrible noise but she knew that it frightened her very much. She longed to be in the safe arms of her mother. Tears flowed down her cheeks but she didn't make a sound. She didn't want what was out there to know that she was in here.  
  
The raptors sharp sense of smell told them that their prey was still nearby. Now ravenous with hunger, they howled and grunted in their frenzy. Their black tongues hung from their foul, slobbering mouths as they turned to the tall stones that hid their meal. They leapt at the rocks, their sharp claws scoring the stones as they frantically tried to dig out their dinner. Their howls rose into the air, seeming to whip the wind, which was now blowing hard, into even greater fury.  
  
Poor Summer was so scared now that she couldn't stay quite.  
  
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" she cried.  
  
Suddenly, two loud explosions ripped through the air, followed by two more. The raptors screamed and then were silent.  
  
Two men, who had been coming down the path from the opposite direction, walked forward cautiously. They wanted to be sure that the raptors were indeed dead before they got too close. It was crossed their minds that maybe they could find what the raptors were after and take it home for their dinner.  
  
Lord John Roxton and Professor George Challenger lowered their rifles as they realized that the raptors were dead. They quickly raised them again, however, when they heard a high pitched scream come from inside the standing stones. No wild pig made that very human sounding noise.  
  
"Who's in there?" Roxton yelled as he pointed his rifle towards the sound. "Come out peacefully. We don't want to hurt you."  
  
There was silence and then a scrabbling sound as a tiny figure popped out from between the rocks and latched onto Roxton's leg.  
  
Both Roxton and Challenger lowered their rifles as they realized that the small figure was a little girl, crying so hard that she couldn't speak.  
  
Roxton quickly handed his rifle to Challenger and picked up the distraught child. She clung to him sobbing and wiping her streaming eyes and nose on his shoulder.  
  
Roxton was at a loss. He didn't know what to do. He patted and rubbed her back, muttering "There, there, now."  
  
It wasn't long before Summer's sobbing began to abate. She was not only afraid, she was outraged. She reared back and started pounding her fists on Roxton's chest.  
  
"Raptors can't get inside the fence! You promised! Raptors aren't ALLOWED inside the fence!"  
  
Her small fists continued to beat on Roxton's chest as he tried to understand what she was saying. He finally thought that he got it.  
  
"Whoa, whoa," he cautioned, holding her away from his body. "These raptors ARE outside the fence. WE'RE outside the fence. You see, no one broke the promise."  
  
He thought that sounded reasonable.  
  
The little girl looked at him in disbelief. Then her dirty, wet face screwed up into another burst of tears as she howled, "Oh, no. I'm not SUPPOSED to be outside the fence." And she flung herself back against his shoulder, crying even harder.  
  
"Is she hurt?" questioned Challenger. He was as astonished as Roxton at finding this little girl out in the jungle all by herself.  
  
"I don't think she's injured," Roxton said as he ran his hand gently down her arms and legs. "But, how did she get out here? Where are her parents?"  
  
Summer stopped crying and leaned back to look up into Roxton's face. Her impossibly wet and grimy face broke into a smirk. She pointed her grubby finger and tapped Roxton on the nose.  
  
"Silly, Daddy," she chortled. "You're right here!"  
  
She looked at him more closely. "You look funny, Daddy. Where's your moo- stash?" she asked as she ran her finger under his nose.  
  
Roxton just stared at her.  
  
Suddenly, Summer was so tired she couldn't keep her eyes opened. She collapsed against Roxton's shoulder. Her sleepy little voice was barely loud enough for the men to hear.  
  
"I'm glad you shot those mean raptors, Daddy. Please take me back to the treehouse. I'm so tired. I want to go to bed." Her voice trailed off as she closed her eyes. Her head snuggled up against Roxton's neck.  
  
Roxton, who had been rendered speechless up to this point, looked over the little girl's head at Challenger, "Did she call me Daddy?" he asked incredulously.  
  
Challenger chuckled and rubbed his hand over his beard.  
  
"Well," he answered, amusement in his voice, "she does look exactly like you, John."  
  
Roxton squinted one eye shut and tilted his head to look down at the sleeping child.  
  
He shrugged.  
  
"Let's get going," he said. "It looks like rain."  
  
He started off down the path they had just traversed. Challenger brought up the rear, carrying the rifles.  
  
They had gone a few yards when Summer raised her head from Roxton's shoulder and looked back at Challenger.  
  
"You look funny, too, Grandpa." Summer sighed and then went back to sleep.  
  
Challenger's mouth dropped open. "Grandpa? Did that child call me Grandpa?"  
  
He shook his head in shock.  
  
"We must hurry to the treehouse, Roxton. Clearly that child is hallucinating!"  
  
Roxton laughed and hoisted the mystery child higher up onto his shoulder.  
  
To be Continued…  
  
Chapter 3 coming soon. 


	3. Realizations and Revelations

Previously: The two Roxton and the two Malone children, after popping out of the misty portal, noticed that their world had changed. When they couldn't find Summer anywhere around the meadow, they decided to get to the treehouse so that their parents could help in the search, and explain the strange things they had seen. Meanwhile, Summer, after a traumatic encounter with raptors, is rescued by her "daddy and grandpa", who have no idea who she is.  
  
Author's note: I suddenly realized just how scary and traumatizing it would be for the children to meet up with people who look like their parents but who do not recognize them or love them. So I gave the children a little more power of deductive reasoning then perhaps their ages warrant, in the hope that they could prepare themselves mentally and emotionally for the above possibility. I couldn't stand to upset the kiddies too much.  
  
1.1 Chapter 3 – Realizations and Revelations  
  
The little band of children made their way slowly through the dense jungle foliage, the path they remembered as being clear, and wide enough for two people to easily walk side by side, was so overgrown that they had to walk single-file. Edward was in the lead with Will following on his heels. Victoria came next, practically dragging poor Alice behind her. The boys used their staffs to beat at the vines and branches that blocked their progress. It was slow going and the children were getting more and more anxious to get home. Their glum mood was occasionally lightened when they noticed signs that someone had been on the path before them. They hoped with all their hearts that it had been Summer.  
  
They had reached a small clearing where rounded, moss covered rocks littered the ground when Edward stopped and waited for the other to catch up.  
  
"We can go down this other path," he said, pointing to the right. "It's a shortcut to my treehouse"  
  
"You can't be serious, Edward," Victoria exclaimed. "There is hardly a path at all, that way."  
  
"That's all right, Tori," Will reassured her. "Edward and I could find our way through there blindfolded. We just follow the stream."  
  
Victoria rolled her eyes, but in reality she was getting desperate to turn the responsibility of the children over to the grownups.  
  
"Very well, Edward," she said emphasizing who she was trusting. "If you think it will be faster. I'm afraid that little Alice is just about ready to collapse." She pulled Alice against her side and patted her on the head.  
  
Alice didn't know what "collapse" meant, but she was annoyed at being called "little", so she jerked away from Victoria. Then, looking up at her older friend's face and seeing the slight tremble of her bottom lip, she relented and took hold of her hand again.  
  
Meanwhile, Will and Edward were discussing just how far into the forest they needed to walk before they would find the small stream that ran through these woods and came out by the treehouse. First, Will would say something like "we walk straight ahead and then turn right" and then Edward would argue and move his hands around like rudders on a boat, first pointing this way and then that way.  
  
Victoria's patience was at an end. Pulling Alice along, she strode past the boys.  
  
"Oh, for Lord's sake," she huffed. "We'll find the stupid stream. How hard can it be?"  
  
It was a little harder than they thought. The undergrowth was so dense that the stream was invisible. It wasn't until they had tripped and stumbled and gotten thoroughly scratched that they finally heard water rushing over rocks. They pushing through a large, reddish bush and came to the longed for water source.  
  
The going was a bit easier beside the stream and they started making good time. The children didn't realize just how lucky they were to be traveling through the jungle, outside of the protection of the electrified fence, unmolested by the terrible dinosaurs that lived in these very woods. They could not know that all of the carnivores, both large and small, were over near the "castle" feasting and fighting over the two dead raptors.  
  
Edward, who was in the lead again, slowed down and turned around to speak to his friends.  
  
"You know," he began, "I've been thinking…"  
  
"Well," Victoria drawled, "another strange happening to add to the list.".  
  
"What about?" Will asked, ignoring his sister.  
  
"My Dad is always telling me stories about the plateau and he sometimes calls it a "place out of time", Edward continued excitedly. "He explained that everything here seems to move back and forth through time. So, I was thinking that maybe WE moved back in time and that's why everything seems so different…"  
  
He trailed off when he saw the skeptical look on the faces of the Roxton children.  
  
Alice came to his defense.  
  
"That's right," she said. "He even told us a story about some of our parents going into the future and finding everything on the plateau different. Well, everything is different for us, too. Right? And he told us about some people who appear here for a few days and then they disappear for a whole year before they return…"  
  
Her voice wound down when the implications of what they were hypothesizing sank in. The other children came to the same realization.  
  
Will voiced all of their concerns. "If all that is true, then what if…what if our parents aren't on the plateau in this time?"  
  
The children stood silently for a minute.  
  
"Well, my parents told me stories about their early days on the plateau and they described it just like this, so I think they are here…just earlier," announced Victoria.  
  
Edward, who was a very studious and observant, just like his father, spoke up, his thoughts stumbling over each other as they occurred to him.  
  
"I agree with Tori that we did move back in time, mainly because of how everything looks so overgrown like it would before the trails and roads were built, and, if we did move back in time, then our parents would be young, wouldn't they?" He took a deep breath and continued thoughtfully. "And maybe…maybe, here, we haven't even been born yet!"  
  
Alice laughed. "Of course we've been born, Edward. I can see you all and you can see me."  
  
They all smiled at the little girl's literalness.  
  
"So, Edward," Victoria said thoughtfully, "if our parents are young and we haven't been born yet…they won't know who we are, will they?"  
  
"What do you mean, they won't know who we are?" wailed Alice.  
  
Edward came over and put his arm around Alice's shoulder. "It's won't be their fault, Alice. They won't be our real parents, they'll just be our future parents," he explained to his little sister.  
  
Will sniggered, "Won't they be in for a shock when they see us? Especially when they meet Victoria!" he drawled out her name in a high pitched, dignified voice.  
  
Victoria took a swipe at him, which he easily avoided.  
  
Alice was still shaken up by the thought that her mom and dad wouldn't know her, even if they weren't her parents yet. She really needed her parents right now. She had had a very upsetting day and she was truly worried about Summer.  
  
Will, too, was having a hard time accepting what the two older children were saying. He was very attached to his parents, especially his father, whom he worshipped. But, as usual, he put on a brave face.  
  
"Well, we aren't going to find out what happened by standing here yakking about it. Let's go." He turned and started walking at a fast pace beside the ever-widening stream.  
  
In her usual show of empathy, Alice ran after him and took his hand in hers. He let her.  
  
Edward and Victoria followed. They, too, were apprehensive.  
  
They trudged along in silence and soon came to the edge of the woods. Their relief and excitement knew no bounds when they came out of the woods and found the electric fence right in front of them.  
  
"I know this place," yelled Edward. "The treehouse is right around those rocks! They are here! They are here!"  
  
They all started running along beside the fence until Victoria called for them to stop.  
  
"Come here, everyone." She took their hands in hers. "We have to be prepared for anything. We all have to be brave. If we have gone back in time, we'll need help getting back to our own time. And if anyone can help us, it will be those people who will one day be our parents. You know how smart and brave they are?" As the children nodded, she continued. "Well, they'll be just as smart and brave now. They'll help us get back to our right time and to our real parents, I just know they will."  
  
They walked more slowly now. They had much to think about.  
  
The wind blew hard here, out in the open. It whipped their hair and clothes around their bodies. They were too focused to notice the high winds and gray sky. They held hands as they came around the rocks and got their first look at their destination. The treehouse was there. Way up high in the tall, tall tree. The electric fence surrounded it.  
  
"It looks just like the pictures Grandpa Challenger has on his wall," whispered Will in awe.  
  
"Wow," exclaimed Will in a hushed voice. "Look how close the fence is to the treehouse."  
  
"I'm scared," whimpered Alice. She looked worriedly up at Victoria. "What if they don't like us?"  
  
"They'll like us, Alice." Victoria reassured her. "After all, what's not to like?"  
  
She lifted her chin and shook her hair out of her face. Then, all four children still holding hands, she led them through the gate and up to the elevator shaft at the base of the tree.  
  
**  
  
Not too long before the four children stood at the bottom of the treehouse calling up for the elevator, Roxton and Challenger had returned with their little bundle slung, sleeping soundly, over Roxton's shoulder.  
  
Challenger and Roxton talked in low tones so as not to wake their mysterious visitor.  
  
"Well, John," Challenger questioned, his curiosity aroused. "Where do you suppose this little one came from?"  
  
"Beats me, George," Roxton whispered. "I can't help thinking though, if she thinks I'm her father, who does she think is her mother?" Roxton's eyes twinkled with the thought of who he wanted it to be.  
  
He looked down at his tiny passenger. "Well, one things for sure. She's a brave youngster. It must have been terrifying being trapped by those raptors." He thought for a moment. "Do you suppose, Challenger, that the trauma of that experience has upset the balance of her mind and that's why she thinks she knows us?"  
  
"Too soon to tell, I'd say, old man. Perhaps she's just temporarily confused. We'll have to wait and see what she has to say when she wakes up."  
  
They continued the rest of the way in silence. At last they reached their jungle home and they stepped through the gate. The elevator made the slow trip up to the treehouse.  
  
As Challenger and Roxton stepped off of the elevator, the other occupants of the treehouse turned to greet them. Ned Malone's mouth quirked up on one side as he saw Roxton's burden.  
  
Marguerite, who was sitting at the table having a cup of tea, leaned languidly back.  
  
"Really, Roxton," she drawled. "If you're going to hunt for our dinner, you might try to find something a little bigger."  
  
"Very funny, Marguerite," Roxton smirked. He suspected that she would be in for a big surprise when the little girl awakened. "I'll just put her in your bed to finish her nap."  
  
Marguerite jumped up.  
  
"Not on your life, Roxton. She's filthy. Put her in your own bed."  
  
"Very well, Your Highness," he agreed. "I know how loath you are to share your bed with anyone." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.  
  
Ned had gotten around behind Roxton so that he could get a good look at the small girl so peacefully sleeping on his shoulder.  
  
"Where did she come from, John?" he asked, his curiosity aroused. "She looks familiar. Is she from the Zanga village?"  
  
"No. No, Ned. We found her on the trail. We'll tell you all about it once we get her settled."  
  
Challenger had gone ahead to John's room to turn down the bed. John carried his grimy little bundle into his room and slowly lowered her onto the soft mattress. He gently took off her shoes and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. He stood there a minute, smiling down at her.  
  
She really was a cute little thing, he thought. He wondered why she had called him daddy. I guess I must look something like him, he thought.  
  
"Sleep tight, little one," he whispered.  
  
He returned to the living area and was happy to see that Ned had set out tea for himself and Challenger. Ned sat down with them, anxious to hear about their adventure. Marguerite had returned to her chair and tea.  
  
Marguerite, while pretending to have no interest in the tale, was really quite intrigued to see Roxton with a small child. He looked so comfortable with her. Very paternal. She would never admit to it, but she, too, had a soft spot in her heart for little children. Since she was a little girl, she had built so many walls around her feelings that those who did not know her well thought she had no feelings at all. Only one person on the plateau knew her well enough to see behind her walls, and that was Lord John Roxton. It thrilled her that he knew her so well and it also terrified her.  
  
Roxton took a sip of his tea and leaned back in his chair.  
  
"You aren't going to believe this," he started. He told them the whole tale of the rescue. When he got to the part where the child called him Daddy, he hesitated. Challenger took up the tale.  
  
"Now this is the interesting part," he said. "Once Roxton got her to stop crying, she called him Daddy. Can you believe that…Daddy."  
  
"Now don't forget that she called you Grandpa," shot back Roxton.  
  
Ned threw back his head and laughed. "Grandpa George," he chuckled. "It has a nice ring to it."  
  
"Why in the world would she call you Daddy, Roxton?" Marguerite mused. "It couldn't be that you've been holding out on us, could it?" She tilted her head back to look up at the ceiling, her finger tapping her chin. "Let's see…a beautiful jungle girl. A night of wild passion. And then!" her head snapped down. Her gray eyes locked with his. "The pay back! She sends you the result of your carnal indulgence."  
  
"Oh, for God's sake, Marguerite," Roxton growled, standing up to pace. "Is everything a joke to you? Where is your sympathy? A little girl, alone in the jungle, pursued by ferocious beasts. Surely, even you can understand how frightening that would be!"  
  
"What do you mean, even me!" Marguerite, rising along with her temper. "You're one to talk. How many times have I been in danger and you've made fun of my terror?"  
  
They were standing toe to toe. Their faces, inches apart. They breathed at each other through gritted teeth.  
  
Ned and Challenger looked over at each other and sighed. The hunter and the heiress were fighting more and more often, lately. If they didn't do something soon about resolving their feelings for each other, then the other occupants of the treehouse would have to take steps. Like shoving them in a cave and closing off the entrance with a cave-in.  
  
But right now, they needed to restore the peace, once again.  
  
Ned jumped up and went to Marguerite, putting a hand on her arm.  
  
"Now, Marguerite, you know that Roxton would be devastated if anything happened to you. Come on, sit down and let's have another cup of tea. I think there's some honey left."  
  
He led her back to her chair at the table where she sat with her arms crossed over her chest.  
  
Challenger had managed to get John to sit down too. John tried to get his breathing under control while all the time sneaking little glances at the infuriating woman sitting across the table from him.  
  
The two peacekeepers had just sighed a well-earned sigh of relief, when they heard a small voice calling from far below.  
  
They all looked at each other and then jumped up, ran to the balcony and looked over.  
  
At the base of the treehouse, standing side by side and holding hands, were four young children. Two boys and two girls. The tallest, a girl, was yelling up to them.  
  
"Lower the elevator, please. We want to come up."  
  
The four adults looked at each other in confusion. They weren't sure what to do. Five children alone on the plateau. Was it a trick of some sort? Things were getting out of hand, fast.  
  
"I'll go down and see what they want," volunteered Ned.  
  
Without waiting for anyone to reply, Ned jumped into the elevator and slowly descended.  
  
The children heard the elevator coming down. They gripped each other more tightly. They tried to prepare themselves for what was to come, but when the elevator reached the ground and Ned stepped off, Edward and Alice raced to him and flung themselves into his arms.  
  
Ned had stooped down when he saw the children running towards him and instinctively held out his arms. The children threw their arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. They stayed that way, clinging together, for a frozen moment. Then Alice opened her eyes and met the eyes of her brother looking at her across Ned's shoulders.  
  
"He's not our now-father, is he Edward?"  
  
Edward clamped his lips together and sadly shook his head.  
  
"No. He's not.  
  
The two Malone children slowly disentangled themselves from Ned and stood back.  
  
"We're sorry, sir," Edward apologized. "We thought for a minute that you were someone else."  
  
Ned stood up. He felt strangely shaken.  
  
"That's quite all right." He paused. "Would you like to come up to the treehouse?"  
  
"Yes, please," the oldest girl answered politely.  
  
Ned stood back and motioned with his arm for the children to enter the elevator. When they had all crowded in, he stepped in with them and the elevator rose.  
  
The three adults stepped back from the balcony and looked at each other. Feelings of confusion, curiosity, and awkwardness rolled over them in equal measure. As the elevator reached the top, awkwardness was the predominate feeling, so they quickly sat at the table and self-consciously fiddled with their teacups.  
  
Ned was the first out of the elevator.  
  
"Look everyone. We've got visitors," he exclaimed in a falsely hardy voice.  
  
He stood aside and the four children stepped forward and, joining hands, again, unconsciously formed a row in front of the adults.  
  
At the sight of Roxton and Marguerite, Victoria and Will couldn't help taking a step towards them. Alice and Edward gently tugged them back.  
  
Awkwardness was now felt by each group. The adults were forming a pretty good idea of who these children thought they were, not only because of the little girls reaction to Roxton, but also because the of reception that Ned had gotten from the small girl and boy.  
  
The children were tongue-tied and a little heartbroken to be with these adults that they knew so well but who didn't know them.  
  
The silence was broken by a sleepy, little voice calling from the other room.  
  
"Where is everybody? I'm hungry."  
  
Summer came stumbling into the room, rubbing her eyes with one hand and her nose with the other. She didn't look any cleaner than she had earlier; in fact she looked like a wild thing. Her face was smudged and streaky and her dark, brown hair was standing up in the back of her head like feathers on some exotic bird.  
  
Catching sight of the adults around the table, she slowly lowered her hands to her sides. Her eyes locked with Marguerite's and her lopsided smile tilted up in a knowing smirk. Marguerite gulped.  
  
As the little tease started forward, Alice, who had been rendered speechless by Summer's sudden appearance, let out a bloodcurdling shriek.  
  
"Summer!"  
  
Summer's eyes left her prey and she let out a scream to match her friend's. She rushed past the adult's, sitting spellbound at the table, and threw herself into the arms of her comrades.  
  
The children hugged her and kissed her dirty, chubby cheeks. Victoria knelt down and took her little sister into a big bear hug. As she held her close, she whispered in her ear, "Summer, these people aren't…"  
  
Summer, wise beyond her years, leaned back and put a finger to Victoria's lips.  
  
"I know, Tori," she whispered back. "They're not ours, are they?"  
  
Tears stood in Victoria's eyes. "No, they're not, sweetheart."  
  
Summer patted her cheek and looked around at all her friends. "Don't worry, they're nice. They'll help us."  
  
The children nodded, fighting tears.  
  
Summer pulled Victoria to her feet. Brought Will's and Victoria's hands together. Wiggled in between Will and Alice. Took each of their hands in hers. Looked down the row to see that Edward was holding Alice's other hand. Fixed her gaze on Challenger and nodded her head at him.  
  
George, whose mouth had been hanging open, snapped it shut. The other adults stirred as if coming out of a trance.  
  
"Er, ahh, yes, indeed," he coughed and said, " I think it's time for some introductions. I, uh, will start with myself."  
  
He stood up from the table and gave a little bow as he said, "I am George Edward Challenger, a professor by trade and an explorer by necessity."  
  
He pointed around the table, introducing the others.  
  
"Lord John Richard Roxton; Miss Marguerite Krux; Ned Malone. Our hostess, Miss Veronica Layton, is, uh, not with us at the moment."  
  
He looked at Victoria, who appeared to be the eldest of the group.  
  
"And, now, may we know who we have the honor of meeting?"  
  
Victoria stood up straighter. Still holding Will's hand tightly, she gave a little curtsy as she returned the courtesy.  
  
"We must apologize for intruding on you all. We had a little trouble this morning and seem to have become…lost."  
  
"In time!" piped up Edward. He subsided quickly under a glare from Victoria.  
  
"Anyway, I think you should know who we are and then decide if you want to help us or not." She glanced down the line and licked her lips. "I am Victoria Grace Roxton. This is my brother, William Richard Roxton and my sister, Summer Leigh Roxton. We are the children of John and Marguerite Roxton."  
  
Marguerite leaned over to growl throatily at Roxton. "Three children, John? What? Are you trying to kill me?"  
  
Victoria glanced over at her mother to be, then looked down the row of children and continued.  
  
"Alice Layton Malone and her brother, Edward Arthur Malone are the children of Ned and Veronica Malone."  
  
Then she turned to face Marguerite and said in a sweet voice but with thunder in her eyes, "Actually, Miss Krux, there are four of us. The baby, Margaret Rose, is home with our mother."  
  
Marguerite paled. "Well, how…wonderful," she croaked.  
  
Roxton smirked. Then he beamed at "his" children. "Yes, yes, quite wonderful. We are so pleased to meet you. And, of course, as far as helping you, we are at your service. Right, Malone?"  
  
Ned was staring at the beautiful, blond children that would some day be his. His and Veronica's. That fact in itself was cause for celebration.  
  
"It is wonderful," Ned exclaimed. "But, you said that you traveled in time?"  
  
Challenger stepped forward and put out his hand.  
  
"Now, Ned, I'm sure we'll hear all about that, but first things first. The children must be tired and hungry. Let's see what we can find them to eat, before we hear their tale."  
  
The adults jumped up and there was a lot of shuffling around and table setting and "Do you care for this?" and "Would you like some of that?"  
  
The children, who were indeed very tired and hungry, were soon seated at the table as the adults plied them with every delicacy the treehouse had to offer.  
  
As soon as the children were served, the adults pulled up chairs and stools and sat next to the children. They asked the usual questions adults ask children. "How old are you?" "What's your favorite thing to do?" The children answered between bites.  
  
Ned sat between "his" two youngsters. He couldn't believe that he would be the father, future father, that is, of these two fantastic children. Roxton was sitting between Victoria and Will. Will was almost overcome with pride when he told Roxton how he was learning to shoot with a rifle and Roxton remarked, "Good man!" Victoria was very relieved to share the burden of the other children with these adults, even if they weren't the "right" adults.  
  
Summer had waved Marguerite over to sit next to her. Marguerite sat down wearily. There was something about this child that made her distinctly uneasy. It was if the little girl could see right into her soul. But the most disconcerting thing was that she seemed to find it very amusing. At first, Marguerite didn't know what to say to the child, but after a few minutes she found it easier. Summer pulled her Dolly out of her dress pocket and set the dilapidated but much loved doll on the table. Now, dolls were something that Marguerite remembered from her childhood. She picked up the doll and exclaimed at the tear in her dress.  
  
Summer gave an exasperated sigh, "That Dolly gives me gray hairs. She's so very careless. That naughty girl caught her best dress on a thorn bush and now it's ruined. I have a good mind to dress her in boy's clothes to teach her a lesson." Summer clamped her lips together and screwed up her little face at all the trouble that doll caused her.  
  
Marguerite hid a smile behind her hand. This child was so amusing. She looked exactly like Roxton but sounded exactly like her. Before she realized it, she was offering to make Dolly a new dress out of one of her favorite scarves. Summer was delighted.  
  
The whole time that Marguerite was talking to Summer, she and Victoria were exchanging covert glances with each other. That child fascinated her. She looked so much like she did at that age. She just hoped that this child was having a much better childhood.  
  
Victoria glanced over at her "future" mother and found it hard to reconcile this cold, sarcastic woman with the loving, kind-hearted person who was her mother. Yes, her mother was strict but never harsh. She and Victoria had always gotten on very well together. They shared the same tastes and opinions. Her father called them "two peas in a pod" and sometimes the "twin sisters of mischief". Her father didn't understand them, as he was the first to admit. They didn't deliberately get up to "mischief", they just made plans to get what they needed and sometimes these plans got them into trouble.  
  
Challenger was listening with half an ear to the hubbub around the table. He was also listening for Veronica. She had gone to visit Assai in the Zanga village, but she was usually home by this time.  
  
The meal was nearing its end, when, with a nod from Roxton, Challenger cleared his throat and stated, "Well, now, I think it's time we all heard what these youngsters' have to tell us about their adventure in getting here."  
  
There was silence around the table. Summer looked at Alice and giggled. Alice giggled back. Victoria frowned at them.  
  
"Well, I guess Summer and Alice will start."  
  
"Okay," agreed Summer. And she started telling them about the rock furniture and Tori sitting on Dolly.  
  
For gosh sakes, Summer," Will said with disgust. "They don't what to hear about your Dolly. Tell them about how we went to the meadow to shoot at the targets and how I hit it just about every time and I would have beat Tori but I got something in my eye, so I missed. But…"  
  
"Quiet, Will," Victoria interrupted. "You wouldn't have beat me, anyway! I'm a much better shot then you are. Right, Edward?"  
  
Edward looked between his two friends. "Well," he ventured. "You're both good shots, but I think they want to hear about the blue mist."  
  
"Blue mist?" Roxton said encouragingly.  
  
"Yes, Sir," Edward continued. "It was the blue mist that brought us here.  
  
Slowly the story was told. The adults appeared mesmerized as each child interrupted the other with corrections or additions from his or her point of view. At last they wound down.  
  
Challenger stroked his beard, his curiosity thoroughly peaked, "Amazing! We'll have to find that meadow and look in to this blue mist, time portal, swirling fog thing. I'm sure Veronica can tell us where the meadow is. By the way, shouldn't she be home by now?"  
  
"Oh, I'm sure she'll be here soon," Roxton reassured him. He motioned with his head not to say anything that would upset the children. "I expect she and Assai had a lot to talk about."  
  
"I know where the meadow is, sir. If Mom...Veronica decides to stay in the Zanga village, then I can show you the way tomorrow," Edward volunteered.  
  
"Thank you, my boy. I'm sure you can," Challenger answered. "However, the jungle is not a safe place for children. I think it would be wise for the adults to investigate this phenomenon first. I tell you what, we'll make our plans in the morning and you can tell us the way to the meadow then."  
  
The children looked very disappointed. They were used to being able to ramble safely over a very wide area. The electrified fence protected many acres, in their time-line. Although they were being taught jungle survival skills, in reality, they had never been in real danger and it was hard for them to imagine that their acres of playground were now off limits to them.  
  
Ned looked around at Challenger, Marguerite and Roxton. "Hey, guys, we'll find you a way home. We promise." He grinned and put his hand on Edward's shoulder.  
  
Edward gave him a small grin in return.  
  
The children had been eating juicy, mango-like fruit for dessert. One look at their dripping chins and juice stained fingers, and the adults realized that this group needed tidying up before they could go to bed.  
  
Roxton assigned Ned and Challenger to prepare two tubs of warm, soapy water and he sent Marguerite to find something clean for the girls to wear. He went to find something for the boys.  
  
Marguerite grumbled a little but went about the job willingly enough. She searched through her rapidly diminishing wardrobe and came up with three silk chemises, ones she had been saving for a special occasion. She smiled to herself. If these children were a portent of what her future would be, she wouldn't need these enticing garments to catch the attention of a certain English Lord.  
  
When she got back to the kitchen, she could hear Roxton and Ned in the shower room bathing the two boys. From the sound of it, all four of them were getting a soaking. Challenger, who was sitting at the table, pointed towards the balcony, where a sheet had been hastily hung up to give the girls some privacy for their bath.  
  
Marguerite walked up to the curtain and sang out, "Yoohoo, it's just me." She pulled back the curtain just far enough to slip inside.  
  
Summer and Alice were sitting in a big laundry tub, bubbles and water overflowing as they splashed and squealed. Victoria was leaning over the tub scrubbing Summer's hair and from the smell, she was using Marguerite's last bottle of French shampoo!  
  
"I found these for you to wear." Marguerite held up the chemises.  
  
"Oooh, those are pretty," Alice said admiringly. "I'll wear the blue one."  
  
"Pink, pink," shouted out Summer just as Victoria poured a pitcher of clear water over her head.  
  
"Spppink, sppink," she continued to sputter as the water flooded her face.  
  
"Okay, Summer, we get it. You want the pink one." Victoria said as she pulled Summer out of the tub and wrapped her in towel. She began to dry her vigorously.  
  
Marguerite hung the clothes over the balcony rail. "I'll help," she offered.  
  
Victoria didn't bother to look up at her. "We doing fine by ourselves, thank you," she said in a clipped voice.  
  
"You can help me," Alice piped up. She was out of the tub and trying to dry her hair, but it was so long and thick that she was having a hard time of it.  
  
Marguerite looked down at Victoria and shrugged.  
  
"Sure, Alice, I'll be glad to. My, you have such beautiful, long hair. Why don't I go get my brush and I'll get the tangles out for you."  
  
Alice nodded happily.  
  
As Marguerite slipped out of the curtain to go to her room for the brush, she heard Victoria hiss, "I'll brush out your hair, Alice. We don't need her help."  
  
"She's nice, Tori. Why don't you like her? She's just like your mother."  
  
"She is not! She's nothing like my mother. She's mean and she doesn't like me." Victoria's voice was thick with emotion.  
  
"She is too, nice, Tori," little Summer spoke up. "She's going to make my Dolly a new dress. Maybe she'll brush out my hair, too."  
  
Victoria was suddenly outraged by their lack of loyalty. "Fine, here are your fine nightgowns. Now, go. Let her brush out your hair. I don't want you here anyway. I want my bath in peace and privacy. Go, go!" And she shooed them through the curtain  
  
Victoria let the tears run down her face as the tiredness and worry of the day finally overcame her. She stripped out of her filthy clothes and stepped into the soapy water. She had seen what was going on at the dinner table. The little children were easily won over by a little kindness, but Victoria was too old to be taken in. She didn't want to be happy here. She didn't want to like these people. She wanted to go back to her own parents, in her own time, and she didn't know how to do it. Maybe these people, who were not really like her real parents, would get to like them so much that they wouldn't help them find a way home. Maybe she and the other children would be stuck here forever! Emotionally exhausted, Victoria put a washcloth up to her face and cried as quietly as she could.  
  
Five minutes later, Victoria's tears had stopped. Her inner strength was rising to the surface. She would find the way home, she decided. And she'd do it soon, before everyone became too comfortable with each other. She'd ask Grandpa…Professor Challenger to help her. He was very smart. Once he put his mind to the problem, it wouldn't take him long to find them a way home.  
  
With this plan made, Victoria finished her bath, dried herself and her hair as best she could. She put on the white chemise (it might be "that" woman's, but she didn't have anything else to wear). Then she dumped all of the girls' dirty clothes in the tub to soak, hung her towel over the balcony rail, and stepped out from behind the curtain.  
  
The scene that met her eyes was one of domestic bliss and tranquillity. She could almost believe she was home. Ned was sitting on a bench with Edward and Alice on either side of him. He was showing them a picture album that they had, of course, seen before, but it was still nice to hear the stories again. Marguerite was sitting in a chair with Summer backed up between her knees. She was brushing her hair very slowly so as not to pull it. Summer was smiling and humming a little tune as she made her Dolly dance around, much to Marguerite's amusement. Roxton and Will were sitting at the table talking about rifles.  
  
Roxton was the first to spy Victoria standing in front of the balcony curtain.  
  
"Ah," he called out, "Just the girl we've been waiting for. Now that everyone is here, we're all very curious to hear more about your life on the plateau." He patted the seat next to him invitingly.  
  
Victoria looked around and then, quite deliberately, took a chair on the other side of the table from Roxton. She sat down and folded her hands on the table.  
  
Roxton shrugged. "Sit wherever it suits you," he said amiably.  
  
"You know, John, it might not be a good thing for us to know about our future. I've been thinking about it and I'm very much afraid that knowing what lies in store for us, might tempt us to change something. He looked around at the happy, well mostly happy, family scene before him and rubbed his knuckle on his mustache, "And if we do, we might inadvertently--change it."  
  
"I perfectly well understand your trepidation, Challenger, but…" Roxton began, when the sound of the elevator rising stopped him.  
  
Everyone turned to look towards the opening. The elevator got to the top and out stepped their missing hostess.  
  
"Ah, Veronica, home at last. We have quite a surprise for you," Challenger beamed at her.  
  
Veronica stood just inside the treehouse, shocked to see all of the children sitting around, appearing to be very much at home. She was about to ask what was going on, when Edward and Alice jumped up.  
  
They looked at Veronica, puzzlement evident on their faces.  
  
Little Alice turned to Ned and said with a tremble in her voice, "But, Daddy Ned, she doesn't look anything like our mother!"  
  
TO BE CONTINUED. Chapter 4 will be posted soon. 


	4. Hypothesis and House Guests

Previously: The children quickly adapt to their "new" family. All but Victoria, that is. She doesn't want anyone getting so comfortable that they don't put all their efforts into finding the way back to their real parents. A cozy family evening is suddenly disrupted by the arrival of the owner of the treehouse, none other then Veronica, herself. Before she can ask who their guests are, little Alice throws a giant monkey wrench into the "back to an earlier time" theory by shocking all when she exclaims, "But, Daddy Ned, she doesn't look anything like our mother!"  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 4 – Hypothesis and House Guests  
  
Veronica looked into the shocked faces of her friends and laughed.  
  
"Of course I don't look like your mother, little girl." She turned to look at Ned. "And what's with this "Daddy Ned" business?"  
  
Ned just sat there. He was incapable of movement or speech. Veronica wouldn't be his future wife? His dreams were evaporating faster then rain in the rainforest.  
  
Edward and Alice scurried across to lean against Victoria. She put her arms around them and held them tight. They didn't understand what this new development meant, but, suddenly, they needed to be together. Summer seemed to be the most unaffected one, although when Marguerite pulled her up into her lap, instead of protesting about being treated like a baby, she snuggled back against her.  
  
Roxton jumped up and moved towards Veronica. He took her by the arm and steered her over to the table.  
  
"Well, Veronica," he said in a hardy voice. "We're so glad you're back. We have quite a story to tell you and, of course, we would like you to meet our young guests."  
  
Veronica was staring at Marguerite. Was the cold and prickly heiress actually cuddling a little girl on her lap? What was going on?  
  
She found her voice and asked just that. "What's going on here, Roxton? Where did these children come from?" She thought for a minute and then asked, "And why did that child call Ned, daddy?"  
  
"There, there, Veronica," soothed Roxton as he pushed her into a chair. "All will be explained shortly. Eh, George?"  
  
Challenger shook himself out of his contemplation of the new turn this strange day had taken.  
  
"Er, right you are, John. Soon, very soon." He changed the subject. "Are you hungry, Veronica, my dear? We have all finished but I'm sure there is plenty left."  
  
He bustled around the kitchen setting out a plate for her and scrapping out the leftover stew from the pan.  
  
Veronica, sitting at the table with Roxton's hand still on her shoulder, looked over at Ned, who was staring sightlessly towards the balcony. Then she turned to look at the group of four children (Will had joined his friends) huddled around each other on the other side of the table. Finally, she stared at Marguerite who sat holding tightly to the little girl in her lap as if she never wanted to let her go. Veronica shook her head in confusion.  
  
Challenger held the fruit bowl in front of her face.  
  
"Stop, Challenger. I'm not hungry. I just want to know what is going on here, and I want to know, now!"  
  
Ned pulled himself together and walked over to the children. He put one hand on Edward's shoulder and the other on William's. He looked down at them and smiled.  
  
"Veronica," he said in a calm voice. "I'd like you to meet Edward, Victoria, Alice and William. And that lovely young lady in Marguerite's lap is Summer. They became lost today and we've invited them to stay with us until we can help them find their home again."  
  
Victoria looked up at him and smiled.  
  
Veronica was a little bit taken aback that the explanation was so simple compared to the high drama that she had walked in on.  
  
Ever the gracious hostess, Veronica smiled at the children.  
  
"Of course, you're very welcome to stay here, children. I'm so happy that you made it here safely. The jungle is no place to be lost in, even for an adult."  
  
Summer wiggled down from Marguerite's lap and skipped over to Veronica. She reached out and ran her hand over her short skirt.  
  
"Hi, Veronica. I like your dress," the incorrigible little wheedler cooed. "Can you make me one just like it?" She held up her doll for Veronica to see. "Dolly would like one, too. Marguerite is making her a dress out of her scarf and, if you make her one like yours, then she'll have two."  
  
A great guffaw of laughter burst from Veronica.  
  
"Marguerite is making your doll a dress out of her scarf!!??" she repeated, incredulously. "She actually offered her very own scarf? At Summer's nod, she put her arm around the little girl and gave her a hug.  
  
"Sweetheart, that is the most incredible thing I've heard in a long time!"  
  
Marguerite stood up in a huff.  
  
"I don't see what's so incredible about it, Veronica. I can sew you know. And a lot better than you've sewn that "dress" of yours."  
  
Veronica glared up at her.  
  
"I wasn't talking about your sewing," she said pointedly.  
  
"Ladies, ladies," Roxton jumped in. "There are children present."  
  
Veronica and Marguerite glanced sheepishly at the children.  
  
"Sorry," they said at the same time, then glared at each other.  
  
"All right, now," Ned spoke up. "We need to make a plan for tomorrow. We have to find the meadow the children mentioned and then look for the portal they came through…"  
  
"Portal?" Veronica gave Ned a puzzled frown.  
  
Marguerite, who had been watching the children, saw Alice give a giant yawn. Her eyes were half shut and she was slumped against Victoria. Will and Edward were also looking heavy eyed, although they were trying very hard to appear attentive.  
  
"We'll tell you about it in a minute, Veronica," Marguerite interrupted. "I think," she nodded her head toward the group by the table, "that it's time our adventurers went to bed. They've had a very long and stressful day."  
  
"I'm not tired," insisted Summer and then ruined it with an ear popping yawn.  
  
Marguerite smiled at her and scooped her up into her arms.  
  
"Well then, Summer Leigh, you can lie in bed and keep your eyes open as long as you want." She agreed, and gave the little girl a tickle. Summer giggled.  
  
Marguerite motioned to Victoria and Alice, "Come with me girls, you can sleep in my bed and I'll sleep with…" she turned around and looked at Roxton. He leered at her and raised his eyebrows. "…Veronica."  
  
Roxton's face fell and the others laughed. Then he sighed and held his hand out to William.  
  
"Well, Will, old man, I guess you get to sleep in my bed. Mind now, you'll have to sleep with your hands over your ears, because I snore very loudly."  
  
"That's okay, sir. I snore, too," Will admitted solemnly. He looked up at Roxton with adoration in his eyes.  
  
"Well, everyone," he cocked his head at Ned, Veronica, and Challenger. "You can't say that you haven't been warned! I'll be back in a minute."  
  
He and Will headed for his room.  
  
Edward looked up at Ned. "Does that mean that I get to bunk with you?"  
  
"Indeed it does," Ned agreed. He put on a mock serious expression and whispered to Edward, "You don't snore do you?"  
  
"Oh, no, sir!" Edward shook his head.  
  
"Good man! Let's go."  
  
As Ned took Edward back to put him to bed, Challenger filled Veronica in on the mystery surrounding the appearance of the children. He explained how the children, and they, had surmised that they, but, seemingly not Veronica, were their parents, but of an earlier time. Veronica nodded her head as he talked. Traveling back and forth in time was not a new phenomenon in the lost world.  
  
Back in the sleeping quarters, Marguerite came slowly out of her room carrying her nightgown and wearing a goofy grin on her face. She had just kissed three adorable little girls good night, and they had all hugged and kissed her back, even Victoria. Roxton, who had just stepped out of his room, smirked at her. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her close.  
  
"Aren't they remarkable children, Marguerite?" he whispered. "Just think what we have to look forward to."  
  
"May I remind you, Lord Roxton, that many things have to happen between now and then." She looked down at his hand on her waist. "Though, I guess this is a start," she whispered saucily.  
  
He grinned and pulled her up against him. "This is a better start." He bent his head down and kissed her thoroughly. They slowly parted. As they stepped away from each other, they were once again amazed by the passion and, yes, comfort they felt in each other's arms. Everything felt so right between them, everything but the lack of trust. Because of their backgrounds, with secrets they dared not share with anyone, trust was the hardest thing for each of them to give the other. They both knew that the time was near, very near, when they would have to resolve their conflicted feelings. But that time was not tonight. They followed each other back to the kitchen.  
  
Now," Challenger continued as the rest of the adults came back into the room and sat around the table. "We have a problem. It seemed very clear before that these children were from our future, but now, that may not be true. Alice said that Veronica wasn't their mother. Yet, her mother's name is Veronica. So, this leads us to surmise that, in their timeline, Veronica is a different person." He walked slowly around the table, pulling on his beard. "And that, of course, makes all of our former extrapolations suspect."  
  
"Wait, wait, Challenger," Roxton interrupted. "Are you saying that Marguerite and I won't be the parents of those children in there?" Disappointment was evident in this voice.  
  
"Now, now Roxton," he tried to explain, "I'm not saying that you and Marguerite, or you, Veronica and Ned, won't have children together in the future. They just won't be these children."  
  
"But, Challenger, they look so much like us, and, evidently, their real parents look very much like us, as well. If we aren't their future parents, then who are?" Marguerite swallowed the lump in her throat as she felt her children being taken away from her.  
  
"That is an interesting question, Marguerite. You see, if Veronica is a different person in their timeline, and we are the same people, then, somewhere along the line, our lives…split away from each other. Yes, yes," he said excitedly. "That must be it. Up to a certain point," he paced more quickly, "our lives were the same, and then…some disruptive happening occurred or…or vital decision was made, that split our lives. We, that is, the five of us around this table, lived, and will continue to live a different life from our other selves that were produced by that defining moment."  
  
Challenger sat down heavily in his chair and wiped his forehead with his handkerchief.  
  
Ned, Roxton and Marguerite sat slumped in disappointment. Even though a few brief hours ago the biggest wish in their lives was to find a way off the plateau, a way home, they now felt how lucky they would be if they could remain on the plateau and raise families. Their old lives in London paled in comparison to the excitement they felt for their future. Their future, that included the five children who had come so unexpectedly into their lives.  
  
Veronica looked around at her friends. She couldn't believe the changes she saw. Her exposure to the children had been brief, granted, but the others had known them only hours longer and they seemed to have been completely won over by them. One might even say obsessed. She drummed her fingers on the table.  
  
"Look, everyone," she said. "It seems very clear to me that the cataclysmic event that changed your lives was when you arrived on the plateau. Maybe when you all met me, the other group met…someone else. A different Veronica." She shrugged and grinned at Ned. "And maybe, we're living parallel lives right now and in ten or twelve years from now, we, too, will have a whole gaggle of children."  
  
Ned sighed. "Yeah, but they won't be these children."  
  
Challenger had recovered from the exhaustion of explaining his previous analysis. He jumped to his feet.  
  
"You've got it, Veronica," he said excitedly. "Parallel lives, but with key differences. Yes. That must be it! We've met copies of ourselves already." He frowned. "They usually weren't too nice, but what if there were copies of us out there who are so much like us that it would be hard to tell the difference. They would be good, decent people, struggling to stay alive, looking for a way home, but aided by a different Veronica. Yes, yes," he said, rubbing his hands together. "That would explain everything."  
  
"I was kidding, Challenger," Veronica rolled her eyes. "A parallel us, indeed!"  
  
"Well, eh, actually, Veronica. Not a parallel you."  
  
"So, let me get this straight," Marguerite said, holding her hand to her aching head. "These children came, not from our future, but from the future of our parallel doubles, who are living on the plateau right now, but in a parallel world…that we can't see. So," she mused, rubbing her temple. "The children not only came back in time, but also between parallel…worlds?"  
  
"Well done, dear Marguerite. Very succinctly put."  
  
Marguerite groaned.  
  
Veronica threw her hands in the air. "Do you all realize just how absurd that sounds?"  
  
Ned had been listening with his eyes shut. He was trying to come to terms with the tragic fact that these children would never be his. He whispered to himself, "These children belong to…our parallel selves." As a sudden thought struck him, his eyes flew open. "Their parents must be hunting for them right now. They must be worried sick about them."  
  
He jumped up and held on to the back of his chair for support. His normally tan face went pale. He looked from one of his friends to the other.  
  
"We must find a way to send these children back. Back to the future. Because, if they were our children, we'd want them back, wouldn't we?"  
  
Marguerite grasped Roxton's hand under the table. "Their parents must be frantic. I know we would be if our children went missing."  
  
Roxton squeezed her hand. "We'll question the children tomorrow. The older children say that they know just where this meadow is. I just pray that the misty portal is still there."  
  
"And that it works in reverse." Ned said quietly. The others nodded.  
  
"Well, I suggest we all get to bed," Challenger said. "We have a very important mission to accomplish tomorrow." He stood up, stretched. "Good night, everyone." He headed down the stair to his peaceful room in his lab.  
  
Roxton and Ned said good night, too, and went to their rooms to spend the night with the boys.  
  
Veronica looked over at Marguerite. "I have only one pillow. You'll have to sleep without one. One blanket, too. Oh, and the mattress is stuffed with plakatronia fluff. I hope you aren't allergic."  
  
"You know I am. But, that's all right. I plan to sleep on the couch, anyway. I want to be alone right now." Marguerite was unusually subdued.  
  
Veronica was instantly contrite. She hadn't realized just how much these children had gotten under Marguerite's skin and into her heart.  
  
"Look, Marguerite," she offered. "You sleep in my bed. I'm used to sleeping on that couch. It's not very comfortable."  
  
Marguerite smiled sadly. "Thank you, Veronica, but I really do prefer sleeping out here. I'll be fine."  
  
Impulsively, Veronica reached over and hugged Marguerite. "I'm sorry," she whispered and went back to her room.  
  
Marguerite wasn't very sleepy. She had too many things to think about. She cleared off the table and tidied away the dishes. She noticed the sheet still hanging across the balcony and pulled it down. As she did so, she saw the tub of water full of the girl's dirty clothes. She smiled. Victoria's doing, no doubt. She got to work washing out the girl's things and hanging them over the balcony railing to dry. Then she got the boy's clothes and did the same.  
  
The physical work had been good for her. She felt much more relaxed and ready for bed. She quickly put on her nightgown, took the sheet and spread it over the couch, fluffed up the small pillow on one end, lay down and covered herself with the old blanket that they kept over the back.  
  
She closed her eyes and snuggled her head into the pillow. A minute later, she felt a lump pushing into her back, so she turned over and snuggled into the pillow, again. Now, something was poking her in the knee. She tried to straighten her knee and almost fell off the couch. Back and forth, she tossed and turned. The couch was more than just uncomfortable. It was impossible.  
  
Finally, giving up, she got up and put the couch cushions on the floor. Again, she covered them with the sheet and, with the pillow in place, she stretched out on the cushions and pulled the blanket over herself. It wasn't a great bed, but, at least, nothing was poking at her. She was soon asleep.  
  
Two hours later, John Roxton tiptoed out of his room and headed for the couch. His young roommate didn't snore, but he did wiggle, a lot. Several times Roxton had to pull him out of the crack between the mattress and the wall. And when Will wasn't sliding down in the crack, he was all over the bed. Roxton had been kicked in the stomach, the shins, had a foot in the face, twice and had, finally, been pushed entirely off the bed. Through it all, Will never woke up. Roxton had had enough. He knew the couch wasn't comfortable, but at least it would be all his.  
  
As he approached the couch, he almost fell over something on the floor. Flailing his arms to regain his balance, he could see in the dim light filtering in through the balcony, that someone had made a bed out of the couch cushions. Someone had beaten him to it.  
  
"Damn," he whispered to himself. Then he noticed Marguerite's clothes hanging on the back of the kitchen chair. His eyes sparkled in the moonlight. This was his lucky night.  
  
Very carefully, he lifted the blanket and slipped in beside his sleeping beauty. He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his nose into her hair. She smelled lots better then William. Marguerite made a little noise and flipped over to snuggle up to Roxton with her head on his chest. Roxton sighed and held her close. He was soon fast asleep, dreaming dreams of the future.  
  
**  
  
  
  
The early morning sun was just filtering into the treehouse when Marguerite was suddenly awakened by something warm and heavy sitting on top of her. She opened one eye and found Summer's grinning face inches from her own. She closed her eyes with a groan.  
  
"Mar-greet, Mar-greet, wake up!" Summer begged. Using her finger, she lifted Marguerite's eyelid.  
  
"What is it, Summer? Do you know how early it is?"  
  
"Mar-greet, I gotta go! Right now!"  
  
"Well, go, then. I showed you where to go last night." Marguerite mumbled, trying not to wake up too thoroughly.  
  
Summer patted her cheek. "That's right, I forgot," Summer giggled. She started to roll off of her when, instead, she leaned sideways and said, "Morning, John. I gotta go." And with that, she rolled all the way off, jumped up and headed down the steps.  
  
Marguerite froze. Now that Summer had gone, she noticed the other warm body spooned behind her and the very male arm across her stomach.  
  
"John Richard Roxton, that had better not be you!" she whispered angrily.  
  
"Who do you want it to be?" John whispered back.  
  
"Ahhhh!" Marguerite moaned in frustration. She sat up and turned towards him.  
  
John put both arms behind his head and grinned up at her. "Good morning, Marguerite. Slept well, I hope?"  
  
"What are you doing in my bed," she whispered fiercely.  
  
"Well, Your Highness, officially it's not your bed, it's the couch. And I'm lying here because the young fellow who is sharing a bed with me, failed to tell me that he performed gymnastics in his sleep. Damned hard to sleep with a foot in your face," he grumbled.  
  
"Fine, but when you saw I was sleeping here, why didn't you go somewhere else?"  
  
"Last I heard," he drawled, "you were going to share a bed with Veronica. Now, as much as she likes me, I don't think she would welcome my taking your place." He raised himself up on his elbows so that their faces were very close together, "And, since you're so crazy about me," his eyes held hers, "I didn't think you would mind, too much, sharing your bed with me."  
  
He leaned up to claim her lips but she pushed him back down. There was a familiar gleam in her eye.  
  
"Crazy about you? You're awfully sure of yourself, aren't you, Lord Roxton?" she purred, leaning down over his face. She let her lips ever so lightly brush his. "But, next time you want to share my bed…ask first."  
  
The pillow she had been gripping behind her back came out and hit him squarely in the face.  
  
Marguerite scrambled up quickly, snatched her clothes off the chair, and giggled, as John grabbed the pillow and swung it at her retreating form.  
  
"Why you little tease," he growled under his breath. Then he lay back on his folded arms, grinning. "Next time, eh? There will certainly be a next time if I have anything to say about it."  
  
He was just starting to indulge himself in one of his very favorite fantasies when Veronica walked by, heading for the shower.  
  
"Why, John," she grinned. "I thought Marguerite was sleeping there?"  
  
Roxton was nothing if not a gentleman. He lifted up the blanket and peeked under it.  
  
"Nope, don't see her anywhere around here, Veronica."  
  
"Too bad," she said and they smirked at each other.  
  
Suddenly, loud shrieks and screams from the bedroom area had John on his feet. He and Veronica ran pell-mell towards the source of the dreadful sounds. They seemed to be coming from Marguerite's room.  
  
They stopped in her doorway.  
  
Marguerite sat on her bed with her hands folded in her lap with Alice kneeling behind her dragging a brush through her long, dark hair. Victoria was clipping earrings in her ears. Each ear had a different earring. Victoria had the matching set clipped to her ears. Around her neck was an array of necklaces.  
  
Will stood in front of the mirror that had been set on the floor, against the wall. He pushed his hands deep in the pockets of his shorts and then quickly drew them out and shot his finger-guns at his reflection. He wore Roxton's hat, cocked at a rakish angle, on his head. The brim almost covered his eyes. On his feet were Roxton's boots, the tops reached to his mid-thigh. Edward, attired in a pair of Ned's pants, the legs stuffed into Ned's boots, was pushing at Will, trying to get him to move over and give him a turn at the looking glass. Summer was jumping up and down behind the boys as, she, too, tried to get a look at herself dressed in Marguerite's silk nightgown.  
  
The noise level was deafening.  
  
"Move, Will! It's my turn. Move!" shouted Edward, pushing Will, while at the same time keeping one hand on the waistband of Ned's pants that were in danger of sliding to the floor.  
  
"Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!" Will bellowed, his finger-guns moving at blazing speed.  
  
"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Summer shrieked. She popped up and down behind them like a jack-in-the-box.  
  
Alice loudly counted the strokes as she brushed. "Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty…if you don't hold still, Marguerite, your hair will tangle! Thirty- three, thirty-four…"  
  
"Ouch," winced Marguerite as the brush caught in her hair.  
  
"See!" admonished Alice.  
  
"Pucker your lips up like this, Marguerite." Victoria demonstrated for her. "My mother says that it's quite all right to put rouge on ones lips if one is feeling particularly pale" she explained as she puffed on the rouge until Marguerite's lips and chin were a pleasing pink.  
  
Summer was losing her temper with the boys. She spotted Roxton and Veronica in the doorway and walked as quickly as she could, holding up the gown, over to them. She grabbed their hands and pulled them into the room.  
  
"John, Ronica, " she demanded, "Make those awful boys move so that I can look. They are being so mean!"  
  
Marguerite, on seeing John and Veronica come into the room, jumped up. Alice went tumbling backwards on the bed and bumped her head smartly on the wall. She let out a wail. The powder puff was knocked out of Victoria's hand and flew up in the air, only to land on top of Roxton's hat, leaving a large, pink spot.  
  
"Hey!" yelled Will. He plucked the puff off of the hat and threw it at Victoria. It hit her square in the chest, leaving another pink spot on the white chemise of Marguerite's that she was wearing.  
  
"Look what you've done, now, Will Roxton," Victoria screamed.  
  
Edward seized this opportunity to push past Will and claim the mirror for himself. Will shoved back. Both boys, overbalanced in their huge boots, went down on the floor. The boots kept them from bending their knees, so all they could do was roll around on the floor until they could grab on to something to pull themselves up. The whole time they were shouting abuse at each other.  
  
Summer stood in the middle of the room, still holding hands with the two amused observers, when she saw that the space in front of the mirror was now vacant.  
  
She smiled up at her two helpers.  
  
"Thank you," she said politely. And, quite oblivious to the chaos around her, she tripped over to the mirror where she primped and posed to her hearts content.  
  
Veronica, released by Summer, strode over and picked up Alice, who was rubbing her head and crying.  
  
"Let me take a look, Sweetheart," she said, as Alice clung to her neck.  
  
Marguerite stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, for once at a loss for words. Roxton cocked one eyebrow at her.  
  
"Having fun, Marguerite?" he smirked.  
  
Just as he said the taunting words, Will and Edward managed to roll over to him and grab one pant leg each to pull themselves up. Roxton's pants, not being very well fastened in his haste to get up, slowly descended to the floor right along with the boys.  
  
Marguerite took one look at the shock on Roxton's face and burst out laughing. She doubled over, holding her stomach.  
  
The girls, their attention caught by Marguerite's hysterics, took one look at Lord Roxton standing in his long underwear with his trousers puddled around his ankles, two little boys still attached, and they started laughing, too. Even Alice forgot her hurt and giggled along with Veronica.  
  
The boys had frozen in place, waiting to see how much trouble they were in.  
  
Roxton, with as much dignity as he could muster, said, "Well, I certainly don't have to stand here and be laughed at,"  
  
With one more hurt look at Marguerite, he shuffled to the door, dragging the boys, who still held onto his pants, with him.  
  
The boys let go as they bumped into the door jam. Roxton looked sadly at them as he bent down, pulled up his trousers and strode off. Will and Edward looked at each other. They quickly sat up, and helped each other pull off the offending pants and boots. They jumped to their feet and ran out the door. Just like in their own timeline, they knew that hiding out with Grandpa George in his laboratory was definitely in their best interest.  
  
Marguerite backed up and sat down on her bed. She was still laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face. Giggling, Victoria and Summer climbed up on the bed on either side of her and patted her on her back and wiped at her eyes as she slowly gained control.  
  
Veronica, with Alice still in her arms, sat down beside Marguerite. Every time she looked over at her, she would start laughing all over again. Alice patted her on the cheek.  
  
"Veronica, Veronica, stop laughing. You're bouncing me off your lap!" she pleaded.  
  
That only made Veronica and the other girls laugh harder as Alice, true to her prediction, began to slide to the floor. Veronica grabbed her up and hugged her to her chest as the giggling died down and they all finally got themselves under control.  
  
"Well, that was…fun, girls," Marguerite remarked, wiping the last of the tears out of her eyes. "But it's time we got ourselves dressed and have something to eat."  
  
Marguerite looked around at her room. It looked as if one of Challenger experiments had gone off in it. She looked over pleadingly at Veronica.  
  
"Veronica, do you think you could help the girls get dressed and then fix them some breakfast? I need to straighten up here."  
  
Veronica shrugged. "Sure, I'll be glad to." She smiled down at Alice.  
  
"Great! Their clothes are hanging over the balcony railing and I think there's some bread and fruit in the kitchen."  
  
"I know what's here, Marguerite," Veronica assured her, giving her a strange look.  
  
Domestic Marguerite. An oxymoron.  
  
"Marguerite?" Victoria looked up at her shyly. "May I stay and help you tidy up? I'm a good helper. Really, I am."  
  
Marguerite was flattered. The child really seemed to want to be with her.  
  
"Sure, Tori. I'd like that."  
  
Victoria grinned up at her. "I'll just run and get my clothes." She ran out the door and then ran back in. "Maybe when we're finished, you can brush my hair?" She ran out again.  
  
Veronica laughed.  
  
"Seems you've made a conquest, Marguerite."  
  
She took Alice and Summer by the hand and led them out the door.  
  
Marguerite sat slowly down on her bed. This situation was getting worse. These children were stealing her heart and there was nothing she could do about it. She suspected that their very presence was making her a different, if not a better, person. She was surprised to find that her concern for the well being of these children was taking precedence over her concern for her own.  
  
Did she want children? She admitted to herself that she wasn't getting any younger. For the first time in her life, she heard the tick of her maternal clock.  
  
That thought lead, quite logically, to thoughts of John Roxton. Did he love her? Did she love him? Marguerite had been married before, several times before. But none of those marriages had been for love. She thought no man was worth loving, until she was thrown together with Lord Roxton. At first she thought he was just another man, like all the men she knew. Interested in shallow, self-serving relationships. But now she knew the real John. The kind, compassionate, loyal, funny, caring, frustrating, aggravating, honest human being that was John. He wore his heart on his sleeve and it was becoming clear that he wore it for her. And that made her afraid.  
  
And yet, the Marguerite and John that lived in the children's timeline had fallen in love, had married, and had four wonderful children. Could it be possible for them to do the same thing in this timeline? Was she brave enough to tear down her walls and trust this man? Was she?  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted by the breathless arrival of Victoria. She had gotten herself dressed and had washed and hung out to dry the white chemise she had borrowed from Marguerite. The pink spot was hardly noticeable.  
  
Marguerite smiled warmly at the young girl. Victoria thought to herself that perhaps she had been wrong in thinking that this woman was so different from her mother. She smiled back.  
  
"I'm ready to help," she announced. "Gosh, this room is a mess. Those kids!" she said from habit.  
  
They talked as they worked; about the mess they were cleaning up, about the children, and even a little bit about Victoria's life. While Victoria dragged the men's boots to their rooms, Marguerite hung the mirror back on the wall. They got the clothes hung up. They made the bed. Their last job was sorting the good size pile of earrings, necklaces and bracelets that came out of the covers.  
  
"Are any of these necklaces like your mother's?" Marguerite asked curiously.  
  
Victoria picked two up and let them run through her fingers. "Some of them are," she answered quietly. "But she has a whole bunch more then you have. Dad is always giving her new ones. He'll call her "Your Highness" and then fasten one around her neck. She'll laugh and say that a lord should always kneel before a queen. Then he'll say, that if that were so, then he would be on his knees all day, because she is the queen of his heart." Victoria looked up at Marguerite with tears in her eyes.  
  
"I miss them so much."  
  
Marguerite pulled her into her arms. "Of course you do, Sweetheart. We'll find you all a way home, very soon. I promise."  
  
**  
  
  
  
Ned was helping Veronica feed the children. Every few minutes he would glance over at her then look away. Veronica didn't know whether to be amused or uncomfortable. When the children were served and were tucking in with great appetite, Ned whispered to her that he would like to talk to her in private. Veronica agreed and followed him down in the elevator.  
  
As they stepped out onto the jungle floor, Ned rubbed his hands on his pants nervously.  
  
"Eh, Veronica," he stammered, "I was wondering if we could talk about the future…our future.  
  
"Ned," Veronica frowned, "We've talked about our relationship before. We decided to just be friends, remember?"  
  
"I know, I know," Ned nodded holding his palms towards her in a placating gesture. "But you must know that I don't look on you as just a friend. My feelings for you are…much stronger."  
  
Veronica sighed and turned away to walk over to the outdoor table. She started fiddling with the objects on it.  
  
"Ned, you know that I can't leave the plateau with you. I have to stay here and continue looking for my parents. My life is here and yours is in London."  
  
"I don't know about that anymore," Ned said as he looked up at the treehouse.  
  
Veronica turned around to face him.  
  
"This change of heart has to do with Edward and Alice, doesn't it," she surmised.  
  
He nodded and looked down. Veronica's heart went out to him, but she knew that he had to face reality.  
  
"Ned, Challenger said that these children wouldn't be yours, remember?" She walked over to him and put her hand on his arm. "They're great kids, and maybe someday you'll have children just as wonderful. You and Gladys."  
  
Ned's face froze.  
  
"You know that I've put my feelings for Gladys behind me," he snapped. "And, besides, she can't have children." He paused. "I thought that I was resigned to never being a father, but now…I know that being a father is something that I really want."  
  
"Are you sure that your strong feelings for me didn't come on as suddenly as your desire to be a father?"  
  
Ned looked down and grinned.  
  
"My feelings for you started a long, long time ago," he said meeting Veronica's eye.  
  
His face took on a serious cast. "Veronica, please tell me if there is any hope for us. Do you have any feelings for me beyond just friendship?"  
  
He held his breath waiting for her answer.  
  
Veronica took her time answering. She wandered back over to the table and picked up a rock from a pile Marguerite was sorting. She hefted it in her hand and then put it down again. She leaned on the table with both arms straight out, her head hung in thought.  
  
Finally, Ned could not stand it another minute.  
  
"Well," he said sadly, "Your answer is obvious. I'm sorry I put you on the spot.  
  
He started walking back towards the elevator.  
  
"Wait, Ned!"  
  
Veronica walked quickly over to him and put her arms around him. He held her tight as she rested her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beating a fast rhythm.  
  
Her answer came out slowly, mumbled against his chest.  
  
"When you and…the others…talk about finding a way off of the plateau, and…going home, it…hurts me. You all seem to think that being stranded here is a disaster…that your lives have been…held up…that you're just marking time until you can resume your real lives."  
  
She sniffled a little. "But…but…I live here. This is my real life. The plateau is my home and I can't leave. You know that! I owe it to my parents to never stop looking for them, as long as there's the least bit of hope.'  
  
Her sniffle had now turned into real tears. "Everyone who loves me…leaves me. And…and now you say that you love me…but I know…that you'll leave me, too…as soon as you find a way back home."  
  
She leaned back so that she could see his face. Her words came faster, now. "I don't want to love you, Ned. I couldn't stand to give you my love and then…see you leave."  
  
Suddenly, she was in a rage…a rage against fate. "Even if I do care for you as more than a friend, I…I'm not going to act on it! I won't be hurt that way again!"  
  
She pushed away from him, stomped over to the table and stood there, her back towards him. Her arms were folded across her chest, which was heaving in agitation.  
  
Her words gave Ned hope, but alarmed him as well. He had to make Veronica understand the epiphany he had so recently experienced.  
  
He took a deep breath and walked over to stand behind her.  
  
"Veronica, I know that this sounds sudden, but I hope you can believe me when I tell you this. In the last twenty-four hours, my life, my plans, my dreams have changed. I…I don't quite understand what happened, myself. All I know is that I see so clearly now what I want, and one of those things is you…in my life."  
  
He paused and said, "The other thing I know is that…I want to stay here with you. I want us to make a life here and…" Here he paused again, blushing at his boldness. "And, someday, have a family of our own."  
  
He reached out and turned Veronica around. The look in her eyes gave him courage.  
  
"I want you to be the mother of my children, my sweet Veronica," he whispered seriously. He cupped her cheeks with his strong hands as he saw the tears in her eyes. "There is not a doubt in my mind that our children will be as wonderful as those two up there."  
  
She smiled, though her eyes glistened. "They are pretty wonderful, aren't they?"  
  
Ned smiled back. "So?" He tilted his head to look into her lower eyes. "Do you think you'd like to work on this plan with me?"  
  
Doubt and fear again sweep through her. She had to hear his promise again. "So, if you all found a way home tomorrow, you wouldn't change your mind?"  
  
Ned shook his head as he pulled her against his chest. "Nope. They'd have to go without me. I mean it, Sweetheart, you're stuck with me." He hugged her tighter. "That is…if you'll have me."  
  
Veronica, for all her strength, her warrior courage, was trembling in this man's arms. As he spoke to her, she found herself wanting to believe in his dream. Wanting to, more then she thought possible. But, what he said also frightened her as no apeman or cannibal or dinosaur ever had.  
  
She took a shaky breath. "I can't promise anything right now, Ned." She felt him wilt with her words. "But…but, I'm willing to work on it."  
  
Ned's grin spread from ear to ear. "That's all that I ask!"  
  
Their kiss was full of hope, and want, and promise.  
  
**  
  
Marguerite and Victoria, finished with their cleaning, walked into the kitchen area to have breakfast. They walked in on what was becoming the norm…pandemonium.  
  
The children, having finished their breakfast, were under the supervision of Roxton. He had made the mistake of lifting Alice up to see if she could reach the roof. After that, of course, everyone wanted a turn. The boys' competitive spirits thrived on such tests. When Will wanted to stand on Roxton's shoulders, John finally called the competition off.  
  
Then Summer, who was standing on the top step leading up to the elevator called out, "John, John, watch me jump!"  
  
Roxton caught her just before she would have landed painfully on the floor. He had no sooner set her down then Alice shouted, "Catch me, too!" He did, and then there was Summer, at the top again.  
  
Will and Edward were waiting behind Summer.  
  
"I don't need anybody to catch me," Edward boasted.  
  
"Me, neither," Will declared.  
  
"No! No more!" shouted Roxton, catching Summer for the second time.  
  
"That's not fair," complained Edward. "Summer had two turns and we didn't get even one!"  
  
"I want to jump by myself, too," chimed in Alice, pushing up behind Will.  
  
Will joined forces with Edward. A move that had daunted many an adult before.  
  
"Yeah! Not fair!"  
  
"You heard me," Roxton said through gritted teeth. He was holding Summer by her waist under one arm and was lifting Alice down with the other, when Marguerite and Victoria entered.  
  
The ladies grinned at each other. Victoria, because she had seen this scenario many times before, and Marguerite because she enjoyed seeing John playing daddy.  
  
"Having fun, John?" she taunted.  
  
Victoria, who knew that these children would never stop, since they now realized they were dealing with amateurs, came to the rescue.  
  
She put her hands on her hips, feet spread apart. She glared around at the four little terrors, and frowned a terrible frown. The younger children were instantly quiet.  
  
"William and Edward. You two hooligans get down here immediately and apologize to John for arguing with him."  
  
She turned to the two girls who were still dangling from Roxton's arms. Their little heads snapped up as they felt Victoria's attention on them.  
  
"Alice and Summer. You have been acting like spoiled babies. You need to tell John that you are very, very sorry for your behavior."  
  
Having set everything straight, Victoria sat down at the table across from Marguerite.  
  
John set the girls down and they immediately grabbed his legs and looked up at him with trembling lower lips.  
  
"I'm very, very sorry, John," they said simultaneously, then buried their faces against his pants legs.  
  
Edward walked down the steps and stood at attention in front of him. Will scrambled down behind him. He looked over at Edward and stood up straight, too.  
  
Edward held out his right hand and said, "Please accept my apology, Uncle John."  
  
Will quickly stuck out his hand, too. "Please accept my apology, too, Uncle…Daddy…John," he stammered.  
  
He raised his eyebrows and looked up at John with his lopsided smile. John looked down at his mirror image and smiled back.  
  
"Apologies accepted all round," he said vigorously, rubbing his hands together.  
  
He cocked his head over at Marguerite, who was sitting at the table with Victoria, eating fruit.  
  
"Ah, Marguerite, I'll just turn the care of these lovely young people over to you, now, and, ah, gather up Ned, Veronica and Challenger, so that we can get started looking for this meadow."  
  
"What?!!" five voices whined in unison.  
  
Marguerite jumped up.  
  
"If you think that I'm going to stay here like…like some nanny, while the rest of you go adventuring, then you'd better think again!"  
  
"Calm down, Marguerite," he said trying to head off an explosion. "We thought we'd just take a preliminary look around and come right back. We need to see if we can even find the meadow with the portal before we all trek out into the jungle with the children."  
  
Marguerite sat back down with a huff. "Well, all right, then. But see that you hurry back."  
  
Victoria, who had been listening to this exchange with great interest, spoke up.  
  
"But, John, how will you find the meadow? And if you do manage to find it, do you know where to look for the portal? I think that Edward, Will or I should come with you to give you directions. After all, we made our way here by ourselves. We can find our way back."  
  
This was said in a polite manner, but there was steel in her eyes.  
  
Roxton was very familiar with that gray-eyed, stubborn look. He sat down next to the raven-haired little girl.  
  
"Victoria, I see your point. If one of you could show us the way to the meadow, it would indeed save us some time. However, the jungle is a very dangerous place right now. And we, the adults that is, feel extremely reluctant to endanger you children if it's not necessary."  
  
"It seems to me, John," Marguerite interjected, "that the faster we find the meadow, the less exposed any of us would be to the dangers of the jungle."  
  
Victoria gave her a grateful look for her support.  
  
"Good point, Marguerite. But…" He glanced over at Victoria and seeing the stubborn look intensify, he hastily went on. "I'll tell you what, we'll ask Veronica…"  
  
"Ask Veronica what?" The elevator had reached the top of the treehouse without the group around the table noticing. Veronica stepped out followed closely by Ned.  
  
Roxton thought that there was something different about his friends, but he shook off the notion and continued.  
  
"If you know where this meadow is that the children say is the home of the time portal?"  
  
Veronica walked over to the table and picked up Alice. She sat down in the vacated chair with the golden haired child on her lap. Alice looked up at her in surprise, but then she smiled and leaned back.  
  
Ned ruffled Edward's hair and pulled up a chair next to him. He and Veronica shared a look. This caused Roxton and Marguerite to share a look of their own. Roxton raised his eyebrows inquiringly and Marguerite shrugged slightly in reply. There were brought back to the present when Veronica answered.  
  
"I'm not sure just where it is. There are quite a few meadows and open fields on the plateau. She looked over at Edward and asked, "Edward, could you describe it in detail for me?" She smiled at him.  
  
Edward smiled back. Then he frowned in concentration. He really wanted to impress Veronica. What had Professor Challenger called her? The Jungle Princess. Yes. That was it. Edward found his mind wandering. A story was forming in his mind…a story about a young lad and the Jungle Princess fighting raptors, as they hunted for the lost treasure…  
  
"Edward?" Ned nudged him gently.  
  
"What? Oh. Right," Edward said sheepishly. He concentrated hard.  
  
"Well, the meadow is a beautiful place," he began with enthusiasm. "We play there a lot. It's a great place for a picnic and we can practice shooting and throwing spears 'cause Dad and Uncle John set up targets at the end of the field in front of the cliff face. The Zangas play there with us. My best friend is Atoo. He's Jarl's son and he's just my age." He realized that everyone was looking at him. "Oh, you want to know where it is, don't you. Well, that's easy. If you go down the main road to the Zanga village, you turn off at the path that leads to the stream, but you don't go all the way to the stream. When you get to the storage shed, you take the trail to the left that goes around behind it and the meadow is about, oh, ten…or thirty minutes walk from there. Course," he said thoughtfully, "you could take the shortcut that we took to get here, but the path isn't very clear anymore 'til you get to the stream and then me and Will could tell where to go from there…I think."  
  
Out of all this rambling, Veronica gleaned a few facts to mull over.  
  
"So the meadow is near a stream, but not too near, and at one end it has a cliff face." Veronica smiled at the little boy. Edward nodded.  
  
Will couldn't keep silent.  
  
"I could get you there. Edward doesn't know what to look for." He spoke slowly as if they were slow in comprehension. "The trail is full of moss covered rocks at the beginning and at the end are lots of trees with big, green leaves." Will folded his arms across his chest, and nodded his head as if he had settled the matter.  
  
The adults looked at each other. This was getting them nowhere.  
  
"I want to go with you. I'll know if we find the right meadow. It's silly for you to go out looking at meadow after meadow, if you won't be able to tell if it is the right one when you find it." Victoria was totally serious.  
  
Veronica nodded at her, as serious as she was.  
  
"You're right, Tori. That makes sense." She looked around at the others. "I vote we take Victoria with us."  
  
"Now, wait just a minute, Veronica," Marguerite's maternal instincts couldn't agree to this reckless course of action. "You said yourself that the apemen are roaming close to here. It's too dangerous to take Tori with you!"  
  
Roxton stood behind her and laid a restraining hand on her shoulder.  
  
"It's all right, Marguerite. I won't let anything happen to her. You trust me on this don't you?"  
  
She looked up at him and what she saw in his eyes moved her to cover his hand with hers.  
  
"Yes, I do."  
  
She knew how much these children meant to him. Her trust in him was total. She had never felt so close to him as she did this minute. It was a closeness not of the usual flirtatious, passionate nature but more a closeness of a partnership. A partnership in keeping loved ones safe.  
  
He turned his hand over and squeezed hers.  
  
"It's settle then. Let's get George up here and we'll get started."  
  
Roxton went down to the lab to fill Challenger in on their plans. An hour later, they were ready to depart.  
  
Everyone was subdued. Even little Summer was quiet. She and Alice sat on the couch, out of the way of the hustle and bustle. When it was time to go, emotions were high. Marguerite gave Victoria a big hug and kiss. She did the same to Roxton. Somehow, without them even realizing it, their relationship had changed…had matured.  
  
The elevator took the hunters down into the jungle and left Marguerite alone with four very restless children. They were getting tired of staying in the treehouse. They didn't have the resources they were used to. They couldn't roam around outside and they didn't have their toys and games to play with inside.  
  
After hearing them whine and complain for an hour, Marguerite had finally had enough. She told the boys they had a choice. Either find something to keep themselves occupied or go take a nap. They disappeared in the direction of Challenger's lab. Marguerite had a niggling feeling that this wasn't a good idea, but then she got busy and forgot about them.  
  
She sat with Alice and Summer teaching them to sew a simple hem. She, as promised, made Dolly a dress out of her beautiful blue scarf.  
  
They were sewing and singing silly songs when a loud explosion made them jump. Marguerite felt her heart plummet into her stomach as she raced down to the lab where thick, black smoke was billowing up from the corner of the room.  
  
Out of the smoke two blackened faces appeared.  
  
"It's all right, Marguerite," Edward assured her. "I've done this experiment hundreds of times. It smokes a lot but nothing catches on fire…honest."  
  
"You're forgetting the time Grandpa's papers burned up," William supplied helpfully.  
  
"Well, they weren't important papers," snapped Edward.  
  
"What is that dreadful smell?" asked Alice, pinching her nose.  
  
"Oh, that? We spilled a little bit of Grandpa Challenger's ingredients. But just a little!" Edward reassured her. "The smell goes away in a few hours."  
  
Marguerite looked around at the mess and felt partly to blame. She shouldn't have left the boys alone, unsupervised.  
  
She surprised everyone, including herself, when she didn't get angry but said in a firm voice.  
  
"You must promise to never, ever play in Challenger's lab without his supervision." They nodded. "Now, wash your faces and gather up that mess in a bucket. We'll take it outside and bury it."  
  
She paused thoughtfully as she looked down at the two soot-streaked faces. "I think an hour pulling weeds from the garden will give you time to think about what a dangerous thing you two did. After that, you boys will have to find something less dangerous to play with."  
  
"Yes, Marguerite!" Edward and Will said gratefully. They were extremely happy that they weren't in more trouble and that they got to go outside.  
  
They quickly shoveled the experiment into a bucket and soon all five of them were outside digging a deep hole to hide the evidence. When they had finished their gardening chore, Marguerite remembered about the throwing disk that was left behind by a family from the future. They played with that long into the afternoon.  
  
**  
  
  
  
After much debate, the search party decided to go with Victoria's recommendation and retrace the children's steps in reverse. They felt that this was the only sure way of reaching the correct meadow since the roads and trails Victoria was used to following were years away from being cleared.  
  
Following Victoria's directions, they skirted the electric fence, rounded the outcropping of rocks, and plunged into the dark forest where the fast running stream emerged to flow past the treehouse and on down to the river. The explorers were amazed that the children had found their way through the tangled, matted undergrowth. Even walking next to the stream was not easy going. They spotted signs of the children's passage and hoped that the apemen had not also spotted the same signs.  
  
Challenger took the lead. He kept his rifle at the ready. If there was one tribe on the plateau he really disliked running into, it was the apemen. Ned and Veronica walked at the rear of the procession. They, too, kept a sharp look out for trouble, but that didn't stop them from being very aware of each other. Veronica actually blushed with Ned picked a flower and tucked it behind her ear. Roxton, who happened to be looking back at them at that moment, thought the gesture goopy in the extreme, that is until he saw Veronica's adoring look at Ned. "Hmmm," he thought, "I'll have to try that one on Marguerite."  
  
He felt a tug on his pants and looked down to see Victoria's looking up at him inquisitively. She tossed her head back to indicate that she had seen the interaction between the two behind them.  
  
Her gray eyes were alight with speculation. "Do you think that Ned loves Veronica?" she asked.  
  
Stalling for time, John asked a question in reply, "What makes you say that, Tori?"  
  
"Well," she said after a moment's thought. "Ned's always looking at her and he gets her things and they argue a lot…"  
  
Roxton laughed. "Sounds like love to me."  
  
Victoria silently marched along beside him for a minute, then she cast her expressive eyes up at the tall man walking beside her.  
  
"They act just like you and Marguerite," she said slyly.  
  
"Now, just a minute there," Roxton stopped in a huff. "Marguerite and I have a very…different relationship. We may have our disagreements, true, and there may, and I say may, be some, uh, attraction between us, but we are two mature adults who are past the giddy, flirtations of youth. We have developed, over the past few years, a certain…respect for each other and…"  
  
"You love her, don't you," she grinned at him.  
  
Roxton took a deep breath to deny it, but something told him that there was no hiding the truth from this remarkable young lady. He blew out his breath.  
  
"Beyond all reason," Roxton admitted with a shake of his head.  
  
Victoria nodded her head sagely. "Thought so," she said with satisfaction.  
  
Roxton was suddenly very worried. "Now, this is just between the two of us, Victoria," he cautioned.  
  
Victoria shrugged offhandedly. "Everyone already knows."  
  
"Impossible!" Roxton exclaimed. He was silent a minute. "Even Marguerite?" He looked down at her uneasily.  
  
Victoria nodded her head. "Even Summer!" she laughed.  
  
"Oh, God!" Roxton muttered.  
  
They walked in silence. The trail, if one could call it a trail, was very difficult to traverse. Roxton often had to lift Victoria over fallen trees and branches. Challenger, who had himself been badly scratched by a giant thorn bush, could only shake his head at the thought of these young children walking through this dangerous and, often, deadly jungle.  
  
"Divine protection," he whispered to himself.  
  
Almost two hours later, the exhausted group reached a clearing. Here the ground was littered with moss-covered rocks. The five sat down on the cushiony mounds to take a rest. Victoria looked around and nodded her head in satisfaction.  
  
"I've been here before." She pointed to a barely discernible path in front of them. "We were going to go that way, past the rock castle, to get to the treehouse, but the boys wanted to take the shortcut we just used."  
  
Roxton and Challenger paled when she mentioned the rock castle. They realized that she was referring to the rock formation where Summer had been trapped by the raptors. If the children had taken that route, they would have been helpless against the ravenous pack of scavenger attracted by the dead raptors.  
  
"Divine intervention, indeed," Challenger whispered to Roxton.  
  
Victoria looked carefully around the clearing. She was nervous that she wouldn't be able to recognize the path that would lead them to the meadow. She let out an audible sigh of relief when she looked behind her and saw the small trail disappearing into the shadows of the forest.  
  
She jumped to her feet excitedly and pointed to the path.  
  
"There, there!" she shouted. "That path will take us to the meadow."  
  
Suddenly, with a heart-stopping roar, the clearing was swarming with brown, furry apemen. They came from all directions. Victoria screamed as Roxton threw her to the ground behind one of the tallest rocks.  
  
"Quiet," he whispered fiercely.  
  
Her face in the dirt, Victoria tried to lie as still as possible. She could hear the apemen roaring out their rage as they attacked and attacked again. Gunshots echoed through the clearing along with howls and grunts of pain. She heard her friends calling out "Watch out!" "Behind you!" "Get down!" And still the apemen came.  
  
Suddenly, she was picked up around her waist by a hairy arm. Scared out of her mind, she thrashed out at the horrid, smelly beast that held her and screamed, "Daddy!"  
  
"Tori! Hold still!" Roxton bellowed.  
  
Victoria froze and seconds later she felt the impact of a bullet hitting the apeman. The apeman howled and threw her to the ground as he fell dead. Victoria grunted as she landed hard. Roxton was instantly there, picking her up and holding her tight.  
  
"Are you all right?" he asked over and over. Victoria could only sob and cling to him. He carried her away from the sight of the carnage that lay over the once peaceful clearing. The adventurers hurried on but they had not escape the confrontation unscathed. Challenger was limping badly, having been hit in the leg by a stone thrown with great force. Ned and Veronica had come away with many cuts and bruises, and Roxton had been clubbed in the side.  
  
They hurried as fast as they could down the trail that Victoria had indicated earlier. Roxton carried Victoria and the other flanked them, keeping a vigilant eye out for another attack. At last, sore and exhausted, they reached the meadow that they sought.  
  
**  
  
  
  
The long afternoon wore on. Marguerite sat on the bench by the worktable outside the treehouse, watching the children play. They had gone in for luncheon, honey sandwiches and fruit, around noon, but now the shadows were long on the grass and the children were starting to wilt. Summer came over to sit with her. She leaned against Marguerite and danced her Dolly around aimlessly, admiring the way the new dress moved in the breeze.  
  
She stopped her play to yawn. "I'm hungry, Mar-greet," she whined.  
  
Marguerite frowned. She knew the children would soon be wanting their dinner, but she was at a loss as to what to feed them. She had faked her way through lunch, giving them a treat instead of good nutrition. Dinner would have to be better for them. She mentally ran through the list of things she knew how to cook. It didn't take long. Sandwiches; peeled fruits and vegetables; coffee; and soup. Soup! That was it.  
  
"How would you all like a nice bowl of soup for your dinners?" she asked the children.  
  
"What kind?" Will asked suspiciously.  
  
Marguerite was taken aback. "Well, Will, what kind would you like?" she asked him sweetly.  
  
He cut his eyes over to Edward. "Snake soup," he said with a straight face.  
  
Marguerite swallowed hard.  
  
Alice giggled.  
  
"Snake soup! Snake soup! chanted Summer.  
  
Edward pursed his lips as if in deep contemplation.  
  
"I don't know, Will," he said slowly. "We had snake soup last week. I'm thinking…" he tapped his finger on his chin, "raptor tail soup."  
  
Both Alice and Summer giggled behind their hands.  
  
Marguerite stood up and put her hands on her hips. "You know what kind of soup I'm thinking?" She wandered slowly around the yard. They all looked at her expectantly.  
  
"Children soup!" she yelled and took off after the children who screamed and fled in all directions.  
  
Marguerite roared like a dinosaur as she chased the boys around the base of the treehouse. The little girls ran after her until she turned around and ran after them.  
  
They were soon laughing so hard that they ran out of breath and collapsed in a heap on top of Marguerite, who was the first to fall.  
  
They lay there panting, giggles breaking out now and then. Finally, Marguerite sat up, shedding the children who were lying all over her.  
  
"All right, you cannibals, let's go fix dinner. And" she dictated, "the soup of the day will be…vegetable."  
  
"Awww," the boys moaned.  
  
But they all got up with good spirit and went up into the treehouse. They washed their hands and faces, and everyone helped cut up the vegetables. Soon a savory soup was boiling on the stove.  
  
While the soup was cooking, Marguerite had the children help her clean out a small corner of the treehouse that Arthur Summerlee, who was still missing, had used as a bedroom. She made up a bed in this tiny alcove for the boys. Alice and Summer pouted with jealousy. They, too, wanted their very own room. Marguerite thought hard and finally put cushions on the floor in one corner of her room and hung a gauzy shawl to screen it in. The girls were thrilled and wanted to go to bed right then. Marguerite laughed and reminded them that they needed to have dinner first.  
  
The dinner proved to be a great success. The children declared the soup delicious and compliment each other on what good cooks they were becoming. Marguerite breathed a sigh of relief that this was the last meal she would have to prepare. Tomorrow, one of the others would take over the cooking again.  
  
Not long after dinner, the children were clean and dressed for bed. Marguerite allowed Edward to tell them a bedtime story while she cleaned up the kitchen. Edward was an amazingly good storyteller. His imagination knew no bounds. The other children sat on the couch spellbound as he wove his tale of thrilling adventures.  
  
The kitchen clean and the story finally over (at least that chapter of it), the four children eagerly retired to their new, secret hideaways. Marguerite hugged and kissed them all good night. For just a minute, Will was upset that Tori wasn't there, too. But Marguerite put her arm around him and reassured him that his sister would be back in the treehouse when he woke up in the morning. A reassurance that she needed badly, herself.  
  
The children had been asleep for hours. Night had closed in around the treehouse. It's light shone out like a beacon high in the canopy…a beacon to lead the weary hunters safely home.  
  
Safely home. Marguerite sat on the couch pretending to read and wished that very wish. She listened to the jungle noises, which, after three years, were as familiar to her as the noises of a London street. Every minute she expected to hear the noise of the elevator.  
  
She put down her unread book and picked up one of Will's boots. She had wiped the mud from the children shoes and washed their clothes, again. That was when she noticed that Will's boots were almost worn through on the bottom. As she inspected the small boot, she saw that it was made of raptor hide. She had never stopped to think about where the children's clothes came from, but now she realized that everything they wore had to come from the plateau. It must be quite a job to keep six children clothed, not to mention fed. Marguerite felt new respect for the children's parents. The children were so fun and sweet but their upkeep must tax the ingenuity of all of the adults.  
  
She was so engrossed in her musings that the elevator was halfway to the top before it registered with her that the others were home. She sprang from her seat and rushed to the steps just as the first three hunters came staggering off. Challenger barely acknowledged her. He limped over to a chair and sat down with a moan. Next to step off were the two people that she had been the most anxious about.  
  
Roxton had his arm around Victoria's shoulder. She looked as if she had just woken up, which in fact, she had. Ned and John had taken turns carrying her, fast asleep, the last few miles home. She was dirty and scratched and her hair was wild, full of tiny leaves and twigs. She took one look at Marguerite and ran, sobbing, into her arms. Marguerite gathered the child into her embrace and rocked her slightly back and forth, patting her on the back.  
  
She looked up at Roxton over Victoria's head. He looked pale and exhausted. Marguerite longed to take him into her arms as well. Behind him, the elevator came back up with Ned and Veronica. No one had said anything.  
  
Roxton licked his lips and reached out to put his hand on Victoria's head.  
  
"The child is exhausted," He said. "She needs to be in bed."  
  
Marguerite could stand it no longer. "But, John, did you find the meadow and the time portal?"  
  
Roxton looked over her head and his eyes squinted up as if seeing something far away. He scratched the stubble on his chin as he blew a sharp breath.  
  
"Oh, yes, Marguerite, we found the meadow, all right."  
  
Marguerite glanced quizzically around at the group of silent adults.  
  
"And did you find the time portal?"  
  
Roxton turned his head away.  
  
Victoria pulled herself back from Marguerite's embrace. With tears streaming down her face, she nodded her head. Marguerite's heart tightened in her chest.  
  
"You found the portal? Then, what…what's the matter?" she whispered.  
  
"Oh, Marguerite!" Victoria cried. "We didn't find just one portal…we found seven, and…and we don't know which one will take us home!"  
  
TO BE CONTINUED. Chapter 5 coming soon! 


	5. Wherever Tomorrow Takes Us

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Three notes, really.  
  
(1) I would really appreciate someone emailing me with a "THE LOST WORLD" web site that has an episode guide.  
  
(2) I couldn't believe it, but my cable went out during two pivotal episodes. One is the one where Marguerite reveals the real reason she came to the plateau and, I think, she learns about her parentage. The other is the final episode about Veronica's parents and what is in her future. I would love it if someone would summarize them for me. Oh, and also the episode that deals with their activities during the war…I didn't understand that one.  
  
(3) I was thinking of continuing this series with another story about "The Children of the Plateau" which would be told in the children's real timeline. Please email or tell me in the review section if you would be interested in reading more about these children.  
  
Sorry it took so long to post the end of this story. I had a hard time saying good-by to the children, too.  
  
A huge THANK YOU to all who took the time to review my stories. You kept me on track and warmed my heart with your encouragement and kind words. I can't tell you what it means to me to share my creations with people who truly understand the characters and share my interest in them.  
  
I hope you enjoy the story and, please let me know if the ending disappointed or pleased you.  
  
  
  
  
  
Previously: Although the members of the expedition have sadly realized that the children are not from their future, just the knowledge of their existence has changed our explorers' lives in ways that no one could have predicted. Ned has declared his love to Veronica and, while she does not feel ready to act on her feelings immediately, she has promised to work on their relationship. Roxton's and Marguerite's relationship has taken a serious turn. Their feelings of a partnership in the care of the children have opened the door to their trust in each other. Now they all face the possibility that they will not be able to find the time portal that will send the children back to their real parents.  
  
CHAPTER 5 – Wherever Tomorrow Takes Us  
  
"Seven…" Marguerite whispered. She looked sharply up at Roxton. "What does this mean?"  
  
He cut his eyes to Victoria still wrapped in Marguerite's embrace. "Why don't we get Tori to bed, and then we can discuss it."  
  
Victoria was too tired and discouraged to protest about being excluded from the discussion.  
  
"You can have my bed all to yourself, Tori," Marguerite said lightly. "The little girls are sleeping in their "fort" on the floor." Victoria nodded gratefully as Marguerite led her off.  
  
The girl leaned heavily on her. As tired as she was, Victoria's matchmaking streak was wide-awake. She had assured John that Marguerite knew the state of his feeling for her, but she wasn't really sure…and she was dying to find out!  
  
"Marguerite?" she began. "John is an awfully nice person, isn't he?"  
  
"He's nice enough, I guess," Marguerite replied off-handedly. She was anxious to get Tori into bed so that she could hear about what they had discovered.  
  
"When we were out today…he told me a secret…" she said, matching Marguerite's off-handedness. She glanced slyly up at the woman beside her. "About you."  
  
Hooked, Marguerite turned to the girl and asked with some trepidation, "Good Lord! Now, what kind of secret could he be telling you about me?"  
  
"Well… she answered, looking sharply up at her, "he said that he loved you."  
  
Marguerite stopped in surprise. "WWWhat?" she sputtered. "Why on earth would he tell you such a thing?"  
  
"Well, we were talking about how much Ned loves Veronica and so, I asked him if he loved you…and he said," Victoria stopped to try to remember the exact words, "he said, 'Beyond all reason!"  
  
Marguerite was shocked into momentary silence. "He said that?" she asked wonderingly.  
  
Victoria nodded vigorously. "Yes…'Beyond all reason'. She sighed, "Isn't that romantic?"  
  
Marguerite blushed in the dim light. "Yes, it certainly is. But, of course, he was just teasing you, Tori. Lord John Roxton could have his pick of any great lady in the world."  
  
Victoria squeezed her hand. "But he picked this great lady," she said shyly.  
  
Marguerite drew in deep breath and let it out slowly.  
  
"I don't know if that's true," she said wistfully. She stared off in thought for just a moment and then brought her attention back to the task at hand.  
  
"But I do know this to be true." Marguerite smiled and knelt down to hug the young girl. "It's time for this great-lady-to-be," she touched Tori on the nose, "to go to bed,"  
  
"What ever you say…Lady Roxton," Victoria curtsied and scurried into the bedroom.  
  
Marguerite followed her with a big grin on her face.  
  
**  
  
Veronica was cleaning Ned's cuts and scrapes with an ointment Challenger had made especially for that purpose. Cuts and scrapes were as common on the plateau as sunburn to sailors on the sea. Over by the table, Challenger had rolled up his trouser leg to look at the large, bruised lump that had formed on his calf.  
  
"Damn, that hurts," he complained. "Remind me to wear armor next time we fight the apemen."  
  
Roxton's laugh turned into a groan of pain and he clutched his aching ribs. "I agree, George. Those apemen fight the old fashion way. Rocks and clubs. Not always as fatal as bullets, but very painful, none the less."  
  
Marguerite returned to hear the last part of Roxton's complaint. She was immediately at his side, tenderly raising his shirt and gently touching his bruised side. She pushed a little harder as he tried not to moan.  
  
"Well, you're lucky this time. Nothing seems to be broken."  
  
She looked angrily at him as she stood up. "How did this happen? You promised to keep Tori safe!" She knew Tori was unhurt, but she couldn't admit how much she was worried about his safety.  
  
Roxton stood, also. He put his palms on her cheeks and tilted her head up to look him in the eyes.  
  
"Tori's safe." he said slowly. "We were attacked by a marauding tribe of apemen, but we managed to get away. Tori was very brave. In fact, she was wonderful. She led us to the correct meadow, and was a real little trooper on the way home." His voice was filled with pride. "She didn't complain once."  
  
The others nodded in agreement, but it was clear to Marguerite that they weren't anxious to discuss the most important topic. They just couldn't bring themselves to think about the implications of what they had found.  
  
To postpone the discussion, they occupied themselves with the mundane necessities of life.  
  
Marguerite had the weary travelers sit down at the table and served them soup and bread. They were ravenous and complimented Marguerite on the soup. She related the soup story and soon they were all laughing.  
  
"Snake soup!" Roxton exclaimed. "Why that little rascal! Has a great sense of humor, though. He must get that from his old man," he grinned proudly.  
  
"And Edward," Ned chimed in. "Raptor tail soup. What an imagination that boy has. He'll grow up to be a fine writer."  
  
Challenger laughed at the men's obvious bias. The women exchanged amused glances.  
  
Small talk finally wound down and it was time to face the possible results of what they had discovered. They sat back with a sigh of resignation.  
  
"All right," Challenger started, knowing that it was up to him to get the discussion going. "Let's face the worst case scenario. Maybe we won't be able to find the time portal that will send them home. Maybe the children will have to stay here forever."  
  
The other four looked at each other.  
  
"That's hardly the worst case scenario for us," Ned chuckled.  
  
Veronica held up her hand. "Wait a minute," she said thoughtfully. "We can't think of what we want. We must do what's best for the children…and for their parents. These children don't belong to us. They're not pets that followed us home. We can't just keep them!"  
  
Marguerite spoke up, "Veronica is right. As much as we've come to…care for them, their parents, naturally, care for them more. If we have the ability to reunite two families, then we should do it, even if…it breaks our hearts…to let the children go."  
  
Tears stood in her eyes. Looking at her, Roxton knew how much it cost her to come to this conclusion. He shared her pain. The thought of losing "their" children was unbearable, but he knew that they would have to bear it. Bear it and move on…on to a future that did not guarantee them the same treasures that had been given to their parallel selves. He looked over and saw the same pain in Ned's eyes.  
  
Veronica reached over and took his hand in hers.  
  
Ned drew a shaky breath and said softly, "We must enjoy them while they're here. We must…store the memories of their short time with us in our hearts." He paused and looked over at Veronica. "And, if, in our future, we are fortunate enough to have children of our own, Edward and Alice will always be our first ones, and we will share their stories with their little brothers and sisters."  
  
Marguerite's gray eyes glistened with tears. John jumped up and went to her. He pulled her into his arms. He didn't care what the other thought. He and Marguerite needed to be together now.  
  
Challenger, who was amazed at the open emotion of his friends, blinked the dampness from his own eyes a few times before he brought the discussion back to the matter at hand.  
  
"It sounds as if we all agree that the children must be returned to their own timeline and to their own parents if it is at all possible. Now, lets examine the problems and see if we can come up with some solutions."  
  
For the next hour they discussed options and procedures. Veronica told Marguerite that, once they had reached the meadow, she realized that she had been there before but had come in from another direction. She studied the terrain, convinced that she knew a different way to get back. They had all agreed that going back the way that they had come was not a good idea. Either the apemen would be there gathering up their wounded or the raptors would be there feasting on the dead.  
  
Under Veronica's direction, they had returned to the treehouse using her alternate route. While it had been through rougher terrain, they had met with no trouble.  
  
Veronica agreed to draw a map of the route that they could use tomorrow to lead them back to the meadow.  
  
As far as the seven time portals were concerned, the explorers had to leave that investigation up to Challenger.  
  
They stayed up talking and planning until it became evident that they were too tired to think clearly. Marguerite explained the new sleeping arrangements and soon after, Challenger took his leave. Ned and Veronica walked back to their bedrooms holding hands. Marguerite and Roxton were left alone.  
  
Roxton cocked his head over towards the couch. "I suppose that you'll be sleeping out here, seeing as your bed is, once again, full of children?"  
  
Marguerite got up and walked over to the couch. She plopped down on it. "I don't think I have a choice," she grimaced.  
  
John got up and sat on the couch facing her. He draped one arm along the back and picked up her small, smooth hand in his.  
  
"Yes, you do. Why don't you sleep in my bed?" Seeing the look on her face, he quickly explained, "I'll sleep on the couch. It wasn't so bad last night." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.  
  
She smiled, but shook her head. "You're exhausted, John. And you're injured," she said. Taking a big chance, she leaned towards him and whispered, " Why don't we both sleep in your bed? I know you'll be a perfect gentleman," she teased. "And, besides," her voice became hollow with tears. "I really don't want to be alone right now."  
  
Roxton couldn't believe it. Marguerite was actually turning to him for comfort. He had to be very careful not to scare her off.  
  
"I think that would be a good, comfortable arrangement," he said sincerely. "That way, we both get a good night's sleep."  
  
Marguerite looked searchingly into his eyes to see if she could spot any trace of sarcasm or deception, but all she saw was the same sadness that she knew was in her own eyes.  
  
She stood up, keeping her hand in his, and said, "Let's go."  
  
  
  
**  
  
Summer was the first one awake the next morning. At first she didn't remember where she was. She turned over and smiled when she saw that Alice was with her, although, fast asleep. Summer decided to remedy that!  
  
"Alice, Alice," she hissed. "Wake up, Little Sleepyhead." She shook her shoulder none too gently.  
  
Alice groaned a little and opened one eye. "Hi, Summer. Is it morning yet?"  
  
"I think so. Lemme go see."  
  
Summer jumped up and stepped over Alice. She stuck her head outside the shawl curtain and looked around the room.  
  
"Tori!" she shouted with delight, spotting the girl on the bed. She ran across the room and flung herself on her sleeping sister.  
  
Hearing Summer's shout, Alice stumbled over and jumped on the bed next to Tori.  
  
"Tori, Tori, I missed you!" Summer cried, as she tried to plant a kiss on her sister's cheek.  
  
Alice, bouncing on her knees, made the bed, and everyone on it, thump up and down.  
  
"Tori's back! Tori's back!" she chanted.  
  
Groaning, Victoria tried to cover her head with her arms. She flung her head back and forth in an effort to ward off Summer's wet kisses.  
  
"Stop! Get away from me!" Tori croaked at the little girls. She pushed Summer away.  
  
Alice stopped bouncing and Summer sat up straight. She had a terrible frown on her face. If Tori had her eyes open, she would have seen the storm that was brewing in Summer's eyes.  
  
Like a tiny lighting bolt, Summer shot off the bed. She stood with her feet planted wide apart and her fists on her hips. Alice took one look at Summer's face and scurried back behind the shawl curtain.  
  
"Tori…YOU ARE A MEAN SISTER!" she declared in an unforgiving voice. "And…I'm gonna tell John what you did!"  
  
Summer spun around and marched out the door.  
  
Victoria pushed herself up on her arms, her hair falling in her face and her eyes mere slits.  
  
"Summmmmerrrr!" she whined. "Wait! Come back! I'm just really tired. Summmmerrr!"  
  
It was no use. Groaning, she flopped back down on the bed and pulled the covers over her head.  
  
Alice peeked out to see if Summer had, indeed, gone. The coast was clear, so she tiptoed over to the bed. Victoria had fallen immediately back to sleep. Alice folded the covers down from her face and smoothed them out as best she could. She looked into the pale, dirt-streaked face of her friend. Victoria's dark hair, tangled with leaves and twigs, was spread out over the pillow.  
  
"Poor, Tori," Alice whispered sympathetically. "You sleep. I'll keep Summer away from you," she promised.  
  
She hurried out of the room, hoping to head off Summer before she could get Tori into trouble.  
  
Alice could hear Summer's outraged voice calling, "John! John!"  
  
Veronica also heard the little girl's cries. She got quickly out of bed and stepped outside her sleeping area.  
  
"Summer, what's the matter?" she asked anxiously.  
  
"I want John!" She continued stomping towards the living room.  
  
Ned joined the parade. He looked over at Veronica's concerned face and asked, "What's the matter with her?"  
  
Veronica shook her head. "I don't know. She just keeps asking for John."  
  
Will and Edward came running up, their borrowed long john shirts flapping around their ankles.  
  
"Uh oh, Summer's mad," Will whispered sagely to Edward. Edward nodded. They followed, but kept their distance.  
  
Alice, who had thought that Summer would be heading towards John's bedroom, was the last to come up behind the group. They were all standing around Summer, who was staring at the couch as if it had deeply offended her.  
  
"John's not here," she said menacingly to the couch.  
  
Ned, the smoother of ruffled feathers, pointed out to her, "No, he's probably still asleep in his bedroom. Can we help you, Sweetheart?"  
  
Summer turned her glare on the innocent man. "No. I want John." She turned and headed toward his bedroom.  
  
"What's happening?" Challenger asked in a low tone, as he joined the others.  
  
Veronica could only shake her head. "Something is really bothering Summer and she only wants John to help her."  
  
"Come on. We'd better find out what's going on." Challenger motioned for everyone to follow Summer.  
  
The old treehouse had never experienced such a strange parade of half- dressed people filling its narrow passageways.  
  
The crowd fetched up just behind Summer as she flung open the door to John's bedroom.  
  
A gasp came from the adults as their eyes took in the unexpected scene within. John lay on his back, his injured side safely against the wall. His arms were lovingly wrapped around Marguerite, whose curly, dark head was on his chest, snuggled up under his chin. Their faces had settled into the most peaceful, contented expressions their friends had ever seen them wear.  
  
The adults responded swiftly. Veronica and Challenger turned to the children behind them who were trying to get a peek inside. With fingers to their lips asking for silence, they hustled the children back to the kitchen. Ned reached down and scooped up Summer around her waist. He clamped a firm but gentle hand over her mouth just as she was about to call out. He backed out of the room and pushed the door quietly shut with his foot. Summer, at first too surprised to react, began squirming and thrashing to get down. That's when she got her second surprise. The normally even-tempered Ned flipped her around so that he was holding her under her arms. He raised her up so that they were eye to eye.  
  
In a voice that would brook no nonsense, he said firmly, "Quiet. Not…one…word."  
  
Summer had heard that tone of voice before. She had heard it many times from her parents. Her little mouth shut with a snap and the fire died out of her eyes. Her bottom lip trembled as she nodded her head. She reached out to Ned, and as he brought her into a hug, her chubby little arms twined themselves around his neck. As they reached the kitchen, it all became too much for Summer. Still in Ned's arms, she leaned her head back, and with tears squeezing through her tightly shut eyes, she bellowed, "I want my Mommy!"  
  
Marguerite awoke with a start, instantly alert. John woke too, and feeling her tension, whispered in concern, "What's the matter?"  
  
"It's Summer. She screaming. Something must be wrong!" She jumped out of bed with John right behind her. They dashed down the hall towards the sounds of loud wailing and excited voices.  
  
As they ran into the kitchen, the voices stopped. Marguerite had a moment to realize that she was still in her nightgown and John in his long underwear, before a tearful, wailing bundle was thrust into her arms.  
  
Summer clung to her, sobbing as if her heart would break. "Mom…m...m…my!" She raised her head and reached out to John, pulling him down so that her arms were around both their necks. "Dad…dy," she gulped out between sobs.  
  
"It's all right, sweetheart. What's the matter, darling?" they asked in soothing tones. John took the little girl from Marguerite and all three went to sit on the couch. Summer sat on John's lap as her sobs gradually subsided. John and Marguerite exchanged worried glances.  
  
Summer rubbed her fist in her eyes, and wiped her running nose on John's sleeve.  
  
"Tori was…was m-m-mean to me and…and," her eyes filled with tears and her lips trembled again as she ended in a wail, "I want my real Mommy and Daddy. I want to go home!"  
  
John looked helplessly at Marguerite. He hugged the small child against his chest and rocked her back and forth. Marguerite leaned on his shoulder and rubbed her hand soothingly up and down her back. The other children, hearing Summer's words, started crying, too. Ned and Veronica picked up Edward and Alice and held them close. Will ran over to the couch and climbed up to throw his arms around John's neck.  
  
Challenger watched with growing determination. Last night, the adults had come to the realization that they had to make every attempt to find the children a way back to their right time and real parents. This morning's uproar was proving that that decision was the only correct one.  
  
He heard a small, terrified voice behind him.  
  
"What's the matter? Why is everyone crying?"  
  
He turned around to see Victoria standing behind him. She was still wearing the wrinkled, old shirt she had slept in and her hair was matted to her head. Challenger stooped down and put his hands on her shoulders.  
  
"Summer was upset and then the other children became upset, too."  
  
Victoria's face went pale. "It's all my fault," she whispered. "I told Summer to go away. I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"  
  
She broke away from Challenger and ran, crying, to the group huddled on the couch. She knelt beside Marguerite, who put her arm around her, and reached across her to pat Summer on the back.  
  
"I'm sorry I was mean to you, Summer," she apologized. Summer cried harder. Victoria looked with anguish at Marguerite. "What's the matter with her? Why is she crying?"  
  
Marguerite bit her bottom lip to hold back her tears. She cleared her throat before replying. "Summer wants to go home, Tori. She misses her real Mommy and Daddy."  
  
"I know, Marguerite. We all do. That is…" she tried to be tactful, "we…we love you all and we're very grateful for your help, but…but it's not the same as living with our real parents."  
  
Will nodded his head against John's neck.  
  
Victoria sniffed and with great courage and strength of will, she got herself under control. "Let me talk to them" she said in a flat voice.  
  
She stood up. "Summer, Will, come with me. Edward, Alice, we need to talk."  
  
She walked out of the kitchen and headed back to Marguerite's bedroom. She knew they would follow.  
  
The children had stopped crying as soon as Victoria spoke to them. They motioned for the adults to put them down and they followed Tori from the room. They were used to Tori giving them orders, there was something safe and familiar about it.  
  
The adults watched the children leave. Ned sat down heavily as if his legs couldn't hold him anymore. John put his arm around Marguerite and pulled her to him. She buried his face in his shoulder. Veronica paced back and forth.  
  
"We should have seen this coming! How could we even imagine that we could keep them? We were selfish and ignorant to think that we could take the place of their parents. A child doesn't forget her parents!" It was clear that Veronica had great empathy for the children's predicament.  
  
Challenger put his hand on her arm to stop her. "Sit down, Veronica," he directed.  
  
He straightened his vest and cleared his throat. "All right, people. We've all been living a fantasy life for the last few days, and it's time we got back to reality. The time for daydreaming is over. These children need to find a way home and it's up to us to help them."  
  
He looked around at the stricken group.  
  
"So, for God's sake, pull yourselves together." He frowned and pulled on his beard. "It's been an emotional morning for all of us, but life goes on and the sooner we get back into our routine, the easier it will be. Now, the first thing we all need is a good, hearty breakfast."  
  
The people in front of him hadn't moved. He decided to take a leaf from Victoria's book.  
  
"Roxton, you and Marguerite go get dressed. Ned, get the breakfast started and heat some water so that we can wash. Veronica, go back and see if you can help the children dress. Now mind you, they need to be dressed in the clothes they came in. Today, we return them to their own time. Let's move!" he barked.  
  
If worked. They got up and started following his orders. Challenger smiled rather smugly. He'd have to use the "Victoria Method" more often.  
  
An hour later, they were all sitting around the table eating breakfast. Although subdued, they also felt that the air between them had been cleared. As Challenger had guessed, the reality of the situation was no longer muddled.  
  
Challenger had used his hour to read up on Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, which included his ideas of space-time, and Schwartzchild's prediction of black holes as conduits between the past and the future. These theories were just being explored when Challenger had left London and he was, sad to say, not up on the latest information. But the idea of traveling through time was not new to the scientific world, and, certainly, not new to the plateau. He was excited to think that he might have an opportunity to make discoveries about time travel that would revolutionize the modern world's thinking on the subject.  
  
Part of the subdued atmosphere was caused by Challenger trying to explain these theories to the rest of the group.  
  
"Now," he said enthusiastically, holding his knife and fork poised in midair. "Einstein believes that both space and time can be distorted…and…I am paraphrasing here, that time travel requires nothing more than using these distortions to move through an…an opening in space-time that ends either earlier or later than it begins! Fascinating, isn't it?"  
  
The children looked up from their plates and politely nodded. The adults were not as polite.  
  
"Whatever you say, Challenger," Marguerite replied. She stifled a yawn.  
  
"Does this mean that you've figured out which time portal the children need to go through?" asked Ned.  
  
"Eh, not exactly, Ned. But I'm sure that we can deduce the correct portal by other methods." He sat back with satisfaction.  
  
Roxton and Veronica exchanged glances but said nothing.  
  
  
  
**  
  
  
  
A very solemn procession left the treehouse later that morning. Challenger, Roxton and Marguerite were in the front of the line with the children in the middle. Ned and Veronica took the rear position. They were following the map that Veronica had made. Although it would take an extra hour of hard traveling to reach the meadow, it avoided the areas most frequented by the apemen and the dinosaurs. The adults had backpacks stuffed with food and provisions; their rifles were slung over their shoulders. The children had stuffed their pockets with stones (all but Summer, she had her pocket stuffed with Dolly) and they each carried a stout stick.  
  
They trudged along in silence, with the exception of Challenger. He was so excited about what they were going to find that he couldn't help lecturing his companions. His voice rose with excitement and fell with wonder as he attempted to explain the various theories on time travel. The others either didn't understand what he was talking about or didn't care to listen, but his voice made a pleasant cadence to their walk.  
  
"As you all know," he went on, "H.G. Wells, in one of his most famous stories, had the fantastic notion of using a time machine to move into the future. You see," he continued, raising his voice for those in the rear, "his time machine stood still, while time…" he made a circling motion with his arm, "moved around it."  
  
At the mention of a story, Edward hurried forward so that he could hear better.  
  
"Professor Challenger," he asked, hurrying to keep up with him. "Could you tell me the story about the time machine? That sounds like a great adventure!"  
  
"Indeed, it is, my boy," Challenger assured him. "Why I remember reading that book when I was a very young man, hardly more than a lad. It had a profound impact on my future choice of profession, let me tell you! Of course, it wasn't real science, but it did wake me up to the endless possibilities of scientific discoveries."  
  
"Eh, Professor. About the story…?" Edward interrupted hesitantly.  
  
Challenger laughed.  
  
"I am going on, aren't I?" he chuckled. He turned his head to call back to Roxton and Marguerite, who had been moving further and further back as the Professor's lecture continued.  
  
"Roxton, could you and Marguerite take the forward position? This young man would like to hear a story as we travel on our journey. And," he cocked his head at the other children. "I think the others would not be adverse to hearing it, too."  
  
Alice brightened up. "Summer and I would like to hear a story, sir." She grabbed the little girl's hand and quickened their pace to walk beside Challenger and Edward who had changed places with Roxton and Marguerite.  
  
Victoria ran up to walk with the newly formed group. "I'd like to hear it, too."  
  
Challenger looked back at Will, who was scuffing his feet in the dirt of the trail.  
  
"Why, Will, old man," Challenger asked. "Don't you want to hear the story?"  
  
Will screwed up his face. "It's not some dumb old story about princesses and kissing and junk, is it? That's the kind of story the girls like," he said derisively. "I like stories with lots of bad guys and fighting!"  
  
"Oh, I think you'll find the Morlocks plenty bad enough for you," Challenger assured him with a chuckle.  
  
"And fighting, too?" Will asked eagerly, as he caught up with Challenger.  
  
"Plenty!" George nodded.  
  
Will smiled up at him. Challenger shifted his backpack to his other shoulder and held out his hand to the little boy.  
  
"Well, children," he started. "This story begins many years ago…"  
  
Up ahead, Marguerite pulled her skirt roughly away from the thorn bush that had snagged it. She glared at the bush as if to shrivel it on the spot.  
  
"I'm certainly glad he's stopped that incessant droning on about time…and space…and space-time…" Marguerite grumbled, rolling her eyes. "You'd think he could pick a more interesting topic to bore us with."  
  
Roxton winced. Marguerite had been in a foul mood ever since they'd left the treehouse. He suspected that her mood was another of the walls she erected every time she wanted to block her feelings. He knew how badly she felt. Hell, he felt bad, too. He was also feeling disappointed. He thought that the two of them had reached a point in their relationship where she could come to him when she needed comfort, or someone to talk to.  
  
He could berate her for her bad mood—he'd done that before. He could tell her to stop feeling sorry for herself. That she was no worse off than the rest of them—he'd done that before. He could try to cajole her into a better mood by flattery and sweet talk—he'd tried that before, too. But, he was too tired and too upset to try any of those methods…and, besides, they usually didn't work, anyway.  
  
He found himself uncharacteristically depressed. The children he had grown so fond of…that he had once thought would one day be his…were leaving. All of the progress that had been made in his relationship with Marguerite was slipping away. Here she was, pushing him away again. Without conscious thought, he let out a very deep sigh.  
  
Marguerite looked up from the dark contemplation of her thoughts. John was walking beside her, apparently in deep concentration. She looked more closely and noticed the down turned corners of his mouth, the deep furrows in his forehead, and, looking more closely, she noticed that his eyes were red, a sheen of moisture glistening in them.  
  
What could be the matter? This was most unusual. Her bad moods usually provoked a response from John. A response that she could use to vent her angry feelings on the one person it would be safe to have angry with her. John might yell and complain, and even stomp off at her snappish replies, but he always came back. No matter how many times she pushed him away, he always came back. She depended on that. She needed his friendship. But she rarely stopped to think that John might have need of a friend to help him deal with his feelings. He was the strongest, dearest person she knew. Confident, upbeat, always convinced that they would be all right, that every problem had a solution…that was John.  
  
Looking at him, she saw his vulnerability. And her heart went out to him. Forgotten were her own disappointment and misery, she could only see his. Marguerite had changed in the last few days. That change had to do with her attachment to John Roxton. It was no longer a one-way attachment. In that one clarifying moment, she knew that she loved him.  
  
She turned around and called back to Ned and Veronica.  
  
"We're going to scout ahead. We'll wait for you all to catch up."  
  
Without waiting for a reply, she took John by the arm and half dragged him up the rock-strewn hill in front of them. When they were out of sight of the others, she slowed down and turned to him. He hadn't said a word. He was waiting to see what she was up to.  
  
She rested her rifle against the standing rock and shrugged her backpack off of her shoulder. She held out her hand for his rifle. He gave it to her without a word. She tugged at the strap to his backpack, until he took it off and put it beside hers on the ground.  
  
She stared up at him and he started back at her. He was wondering what was going through that remarkable brain of hers. She could always surprise him. What she said next not only surprised him, it left him flabbergasted!  
  
"John," she held his eyes with her own, "I love you very much." She held up her hand for silence although he couldn't have said a word if he tried.  
  
"And, I want you to know that I'm here for you if you need to talk about how you're feeling. This situation is hard…very hard on all of us, but I know how much you pinned your hopes on those children being in your future. I want them in my…our…future, too."  
  
She twined her arms around his neck. "Now, is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"  
  
John stared at her. This woman fascinated him. She was as mysterious and foreign to him as a creature from another planet. As long as he lived, he would never be able figure her out.  
  
He put his arms around her waist. "What you're doing right now really makes me feel a great deal better," he smirked.  
  
Marguerite smiled at him, then asked softly, "Do you want to tell me what's bothering you?"  
  
He pulled her into a tight embrace.  
  
"Everything that you've said and done in the last few minutes has put my mind as ease," he told her sincerely.  
  
She pulled back to look at him.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You were right. I was very…upset about losing the children and knowing that these children were not in my future. I," he cleared his throat, "I have grown to love these youngsters. The thought that when they're gone…they're, well…gone…is killing me." He looked down at her and wondered if he dared tell her the truth. Yes, he decided. If they were ever going to trust each other, the truth must take top priority. He drew a deep breath.  
  
"It thrilled me that we seemed to be making so much progress in bringing our relationship to a new level. Taking care of the children created a bond of equality between us that we never had before." He was nervous about telling her this part, but he plunged on. "I have admitted to myself, for a while now, that I love you and, when the children came, I began thinking of you as my…wife and I guess I just assumed that you were thinking and feeling the same things that I was."  
  
He gripped her arms tighter. "My dream that you and I would eventually marry and have a family just like the one we're losing, didn't seem so ridiculous all of a sudden." He shifted his eyes away from her. "But, then, when we found out for sure that the children wouldn't be ours and they couldn't stay with us, you started, well, pulling away from me. Shutting me out. So, I not only knew that I was losing the children, I also felt I was losing you. And…and that nearly broke my heart," he finished in a whisper.  
  
"Oh, John, I'm so sorry," she whispered, resting her head on his chest. Now it was time for her to confess.  
  
She kept her face pressed into his chest so that she wouldn't have to look at him. Trusting another person enough to speak about her true feelings was hard for her.  
  
"I, too, began to feel a bond with you where the children were concerned. As if…as if we really were their parents, that we had joint responsibility for their well being." Her voice trailed off as she recalled these feelings and tried to put them into words. "I saw you with the children and I had a new respect for you." She looked up at him with a small smile. "You really are a wonderful father. And…and I found that very attractive. For the first time, I could see letting the past go, to give up my plans for returning to London, and plan a new future…with you."  
  
He hugged her tighter.  
  
In a voice so low, he had to strain to hear her, she whispered, "When you held me while we slept, it was the first time in my life that I felt completely safe. That you cared for me…just me…and you didn't even know or care who I was or what I had done before.  
  
"But the past is very hard to let go of. When I knew for sure that the children were going, and I knew in my heart that it was the best thing for them, I lost my confidence in your feelings for me. I thought that you only had strong feelings for me because of your feelings for the children. I thought that you saw me as their future mother and, when you knew that this was not so, you wouldn't want me anymore.  
  
She fell silent. She didn't know how he would respond to her confession.  
  
She needn't have worried.  
  
John pushed her back just enough to be able to cup her cheeks with his strong, callused hands.  
  
"Look at me, Marguerite," he commanded. He used one of his hands to brush her hair back from her temple. His gaze was so intense that it was hard for her to look at him.  
  
"Never…never…doubt my love for you." His voice was low and very serious. "I don't care about your past, I didn't know you then, but I know you now…and that is the person I love." He ran his thumb over her cheek. "Love with all my heart.  
  
Frightened, she had to be sure he knew the truth. "But, John, you don't know what I did back then. Things that a decent, honorable person wouldn't do!  
  
He was angry now. Angry that she thought his love was conditional. "There is nothing that you could tell me you did that would stop me from loving you. There are things in my past that I'm ashamed of, too. Things that I would give a lot to be able to change…but we can't go back. We can only live in the present and plan for the future." His voice softened. "Don't you understand, my sweet? You and I have both changed since we have come here. We are not the same people we were before. I think, and hope, that situated as we are, dependent on each other for survival, we have become more caring, less selfish people."  
  
John sincerity radiated from him. Marguerite could only hope that he was right.  
  
"Hold me, John," she begged.  
  
And that's how the others found them.  
  
Challenger cleared his throat. He was about to speak when Victoria broke away form the group and threw her arms around the couple.  
  
"You told her, John, didn't you? I'm so glad." She turned to the other children who were standing next to Challenger, looking at her with puzzled expressions on their faces.  
  
"John and Marguerite are in love!" she told them.  
  
The children grinned.  
  
"Hooray!" shouted Edward.  
  
"Are you getting married?" asked Alice excitedly.  
  
"Are you gonna have a baby?" Will questioned loudly. "Seems like every time my mom and dad start kissing and being mushy, my mom has another baby." His voice was dripping with disgust. "And it's always a girl!"  
  
The adults started to laugh.  
  
Will frowned, and put his hands on his hips.  
  
"You shouldn't laugh," he warned seriously. "There's nothing funny about girls."  
  
This made the men laugh even harder and nod their heads in agreement.  
  
Still laughing, Ned and Veronica hurried up to the radiant couple and gave them both a hug.  
  
"It's about time," Ned teased in a low voice as he slapped Roxton on the back.  
  
Roxton whispered out the side of his mouth, "Stop dragging your feet, Neddy Boy. I have a feeling things are going to get very interesting around here." He winked at his friend.  
  
"Hah," Ned laughed. "I'm way ahead of you!"  
  
Roxton gave him a quizzical look.  
  
They were brought back down to earth by the littlest member of the troop.  
  
"I gotta go, Grandpa" Summer whined, pulling on Challenger's trouser leg. She still called Challenger grandpa because his name was too hard for her to pronounce. Challenger was getting to quite like it.  
  
"Sorry, Summer, my child." Challenger was quick to answer. "You must ask the women for help in that department."  
  
Marguerite and Veronica decided it was a good time for all of the girls to freshen up, so they took the girls off to find a private spot.  
  
Will thought their absence would be a good opportunity to straighten his friend John out.  
  
"What'd go and kiss her for, John?" Will asked with disgust. "Girls are nothing but trouble." He pulled him down to whisper in his ear. "Next time Marguerite tries to kiss you, pretend you have to throw up," he advised, nodding his head sagely.  
  
Roxton hid a smile. "Thanks for the advice, old man." He noticed that Will's face was screwed up, as if he were remembering something distasteful. "You sound as if you're talking from experience, Will."  
  
"Yes, sir!  
  
"So, you have a lot of trouble with girls trying to kiss you, eh?" Roxton asked sympathetically.  
  
Will blushed and hung his head. "There're these girls in the Zanga village who are always chasing after me so they can kiss me, " he confessed. "Edward and Atoo won't help me. They just laugh!" Long festering resentment was evident in his voice.  
  
"Would you like some advice from an older man, Will?"  
  
Will nodded.  
  
"Enjoy it while is lasts, son," Roxton advised heartily. "In another few years, you're going to be the one doing the chasing, and while the rewards are greater, the chase will have new rules."  
  
Will frowned at Roxton in confusion. He shrugged. "Okay, sir."  
  
Roxton let out a bark of laughter and clapped Will on the back. "Never mind, Will. It's all just part of growing up."  
  
Ned, Challenger, and Edward were sitting on some rocks taking a little break. They had taken off their backpacks and were checking out their weapons. They were discussing whether or not this would be a good place to stop for lunch. Roxton and Will wandered over to them and sat down to wait for the ladies.  
  
The guys were laughing at a story Ned was telling them when a shrill scream rent the air.  
  
Edward jumped up. "That was Alice," he shouted. "They must be in trouble!"  
  
Roxton and Challenger picked up their rifles and ran towards the sound.  
  
Edward started to follow them when Ned grabbed him and pulled him back.  
  
"Stay here with Will until we know it's safe," he ordered.  
  
Edward's eyes were desperate with worry. "But my sister needs me!"  
  
Ned leaned down to look him in the eye. "I need you here, Edward," he said seriously. He looked around quickly, assessing the danger. It seemed a safe enough spot.  
  
"I'm trusting you to take care of Will, understand? Hide the backpacks and women's weapons in between those rocks…and then you and Will hide in there with them."  
  
"Yes, sir," Edward answered. "Come on, Will," he ordered. He started dragging a backpack over to the rocks. Will, after a frozen moment, started helping him.  
  
Ned gave them one last, uneasy glance before he ran after the other two men. He hated to leave the boys alone…but he didn't want to take them into certain danger.  
  
He was surprised at how far away the women had gone. As he approached, he could hear shouts, screams, crying, and curses, but no gunshots. He crept from rock to rock, his rifle at the ready. When he spotted movement ahead, he froze and peered around his cover to see what was going on.  
  
Marguerite was leaning against a large boulder clutching Victoria and Summer against her. Summer had her hands clasped in front of her chest and her face screwed up as if in terrible pain.  
  
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" she wailed.  
  
Victoria was trying to get away from Marguerite, who had a firm grip on her arm.  
  
"Let me go! Let me go!" she shouted. "I can help!"  
  
Veronica and Roxton were kneeling on the ground in front of Alice, who was standing ramrod straight with her arms by her side, and her fist clenched tight. Her mouth, which was dripping blood, was tightly closed. Her whole body shook with the convulsions of silent sobbing. Her eyes were squeezed shut but the tears, flowing down her cheeks, were mixing with the blood and dropping from her chin onto the dry, dusty ground.  
  
Challenger was bend over, his hands on his knees, staring at the little girl.  
  
"Come, my dear," he pleaded. "Open up so the blood can drain out."  
  
"Damn it, Challenger," Roxton stormed. "Can't you see that you're scaring her to death! He turned to the jungle expert and demanded, "What happened to her Veronica?"  
  
Veronica drew a shaky breath. "We don't know what happened. She was waiting here for us when she suddenly clamped a hand to her mouth and screamed. When we got to her, her mouth was bleeding. She doesn't seem to be injured anywhere else. "  
  
She turned back to the frightened child.  
  
"Alice, sweetheart, let me look in your mouth. I won't hurt you, I promise."  
  
"You shouldn't tell her it won't hurt when it will, Veronica," Victoria called out. "Alice doesn't like to be babied."  
  
"Quiet, Tori," admonished Marguerite. "Let Veronica handle it."  
  
Victoria crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Marguerite.  
  
Summer opened one eye and looked at her friend. She screamed.  
  
"She's bleeding. Oh, Alice, don't bleed, pleeeese!" she cried.  
  
Alice's shoulders shook even harder.  
  
Ned had seen enough. His heart went out to the frightened little girl.  
  
He leaned his rifle against the rock and, taking his handkerchief from his pocket, he strode down the incline. He shooed away the others and knelt down in front of Alice.  
  
In a soft, calm voice he said, "Hey, Alice, it's Ned." He rubbed his hand up and down her stiff arm. "Blood is scary, isn't it?"  
  
She gave a little nod of her head.  
  
Ned smiled, even though she had her eyes shut tight and couldn't see him.  
  
"Would you like me to wipe the blood off?"  
  
Another nod.  
  
"I'm going to pour some nice clean water on my handkerchief so I can get you really clean. Okay?"  
  
She sniffled and nodded again.  
  
Challenger poured water from his canteen onto the cloth and Ned gently wiped Alice's face.  
  
"There," he said with satisfaction, "the blood is all gone."  
  
Alice had stopped crying and her body had relaxed a little.  
  
"Now, Alice, I'm going to ask you a very important question." Ned said solemnly.  
  
Alice's body stiffened slightly, but she nodded.  
  
Ned leaned closer to her and whispered, "Can you spit like a boy?"  
  
Alice's eyes popped open and one corner of her mouth curled up in a sly smile. A tiny trickle of blood ran down her chin.  
  
Ned wiped it away as Alice nodded more vigorously.  
  
"Good, man!" Ned praised. Alice actually giggled.  
  
"Take a little sip of water, slosh it around in your mouth, then spit it as far as you can. Okay?"  
  
Alice opened her mouth a little way as Ned poured a small amount of water into her mouth.  
  
Her cheeks bulged first on one side and then on the other as she moved the water around in her mouth.  
  
She looked at Ned. Her eyes had an anticipatory gleam in them. She turned her head to the side and spit out a stream of water that landed on a rock two feet away.  
  
"Wow!" exclaimed Veronica, as everyone applauded.  
  
"One more time, Alice," Ned suggested.  
  
Confidently, Alice took a large swallow of the water from the canteen that Challenger held for her.  
  
This time she managed to spit the water past the rock. She turned back to Ned with a wide grin on her face.  
  
It became immediately clear to Ned what had happened to her.  
  
"Your tooth, Alice. Your tooth came out!" he exclaimed, examining the gap in her top front teeth.  
  
Hearing this, everyone came running over to get a look.  
  
"I could have told you that," Victoria announced to one and all. She was disgusted that her expertise had not been recognized.  
  
"Gosh!" Summer gasped, very impressed  
  
Veronica patted Alice on the head. "You're really growing up, young lady."  
  
"Where's your tooth?" asked Ned.  
  
Alice opened her fist and displayed a small, bloody little lump.  
  
"Gosh!" Summer exclaimed again, this time with a tinge of jealousy in her voice.  
  
Alice looked up at Ned. "Could you keep it for me, Daddy Ned?" she asked shyly.  
  
Ned took the tooth and put it deep in his pocket. "Snug as a bug in rug, sweetheart," he joked, patting his pocket.  
  
Alice grinned her gap-toothed grin at him, her good nature completely restored.  
  
Marguerite took Summer's hand and started walking with the rest of the group, back to the resting place to rejoin the boys. One part of her mind was a little concerned about the boys being alone. The other part was trying to ignore Summer's insistent plea for her to feel, for the fourth time, how loose her tooth was getting.  
  
Meanwhile, Roxton was trying to restore Victoria's good nature by being completely annoying to her.  
  
He picked up a rock and tapped her on the shoulder. "Did you drop this, Madam?" he asked her.  
  
"No!" Victoria said sharply, trying to ignore him.  
  
He picked up a bigger rock. "Perhaps this is yours, Miss?" he raised one eyebrow at her.  
  
"No!" she said again, her mouth quirking up.  
  
Roxton dropped that rock and picked up a huge one. He staggered after her. "Oh, miss, oh, miss. I'm sure this one is yours."  
  
She turned around to glare at him. "Marguerite was right about you. You are insane!" She stomped off, a secret smile on her face.  
  
"You wound me, Madam. You wound me!" Roxton shouted after her. He set the boulder down and scooped up a handful of dirt. In a few strides, he caught up with her.  
  
"Madam," he said opening his hand, showing her the dirt. "This beautiful crown fell off your head, please allow me to restore it to its rightful place." He held his hand over her head, threatening to dump the dirt on her dark curls.  
  
She screamed and ran, giggling, past the rest of the group. Roxton chased after her. "Madam! Madam!" he called.  
  
Everyone was laughing as the two ran past them. Marguerite rolled her eyes. "And this is the man I love." she whispered to no one.  
  
At that moment, the sound of a gunshot echoed off the rocks around them.  
  
**  
  
The men picked up their weapons and they all broke into a run.  
  
"Keep them back!" Roxton called to Marguerite as he raced past Victoria.  
  
Marguerite had Summer by the hand. She quickly took Alice's hand when Ned went running off. Now she called to Victoria, who was several yards ahead of her.  
  
"Tori, came back here with us!  
  
Victoria was really sick and tired of being treated like a helpless child, but she turned and stomped back to Marguerite.  
  
As Victoria angrily fell into step with the little girls, Marguerite patted her stiff shoulder sympathetically. She recognized in the young girl some of her own reckless impatience.  
  
At Marguerite's touch, Victoria snapped her head up to look at the women who looked so much like her mother.  
  
"How can you stand it, Marguerite?" she growled. "You can shoot, can't you? You can defend yourself, right?  
  
"With the best of them," Marguerite agreed proudly.  
  
"So, how can you let them make you walk along with children when you could be helping them rescue the boys?" Victoria asked with disgust, totally puzzled by the notoriously headstrong woman's calm acceptance of the situation.  
  
Marguerite felt anything but calm. She was worried sick about the boy's welfare, but she didn't want the girls to realize the depth of her unease. She would have to be careful how she answered the disappointed little girl's question.  
  
She drew a deep breath and with as much calm and conviction as she could muster, she answered, "Well, right now, Tori, I don't have a weapon, so it would be foolish of me to go running into danger when there are others better prepared to help. I would only have to be rescued, too. Besides, I have great confidence in Veronica and the men. The men are all fine shots and Veronica has taught as all survival skills that have saved our lives many times over."  
  
She looked down and smiled at the three adorable, brave, and intelligent little people walking beside her.  
  
"It might not seem like it to you, but the others gave me a very important job to do."  
  
At their puzzled frowns, she continued.  
  
"They trusted me to take care of you." Marguerite tapped each little nose in turn as she said softly, "Three valuable treasures, more precious to us than all the riches on the plateau.  
  
They smiled up at her.  
  
Another shot rang out.  
  
Marguerite was suddenly all business. She quickly surveyed the terrain.  
  
"We have to find cover quickly, girls." She spotted a pile of boulders that would give them some protection.  
  
"Over there! Move it!"  
  
Victoria picked up a stone in each hand as she headed for the rock pile. The younger girls did, too. They crouched down behind the rocks, emptied their pockets, and piled their small supply of ammunition beside them. Marguerite was proud of them. She could tell that they had been trained well to make use of any weapon that came to hand. She didn't need to shush them as they sat alert, but silent, waiting to see what would happen next.  
  
  
  
**  
  
  
  
As Ned disappeared over the rise, Edward went back for the third backpack and dragged it over to pile on top of the other ones. Will was having trouble with Challenger's pack because it was full of scientific equipment Challenger was hoping to test on the time portals. Edward helped him with it, then carefully carried Marguerite's rifle and leaned up in a crack in the rocks.  
  
They sat down beside the packs, hidden from casual view by the large boulders all around them. For a few minutes, they sat in silence, just looking around, their hands hanging down between their bend knees.  
  
Will looked over at the backpacks. One of his eyebrows quirked up with a sudden thought.  
  
"Hey, Edward," he said, "you hungry?"  
  
Edward answered him distractedly, "Sure."  
  
Edward was very concerned about his sister. He wished that Ned had let him go along. He was sure that he could have helped. He was a good shot…Tori was better, but she'd been shooting almost a year longer then he had.  
  
He stilled and listened intently. Well, at least there were no more screams and no gunshots. Perhaps everything was okay. Maybe Alice just fell down or something. He smiled a little bit as he remembered how Alice was always getting scrapes and bumps in her attempts to rescue bugs and turtles and even ants. She was a pretty good sister. As much as he admired Tori, he wouldn't like her for a sister. Both she and Summer were too…energetic for him. Veronica was energetic, too, but she was okay. It was funny that she didn't look like his mom. But, sometimes, especially when she smiled, she did remind him of her a lot. Wouldn't it be swell to have a jungle princess for a mother? They could go on all kinds of adventures. His mom didn't go on adventures. She always stayed home or in the Zanga village. Once in a while she would go out running with him…and, boy, could she run! Her red hair would fly out behind her like red lightning.  
  
His thoughts were interrupted by Will, who thrust a sandwich under his nose.  
  
"Here, Edward, I fixed you some lunch. It's really good! I put a banana and honey on the bread." He took a big bite. "You like it?" he asked around the food in his mouth.  
  
Edward looked down at the gooey, drippy, squished up hunk of bread. Where had Will gotten the food? Edward looked around and saw that the backpacks had all been opened and the provisions they had brought with them were spread out all over the ground.  
  
Oh, no. He thought to himself. The adults were going to be very angry with him. He was supposed to be watching Will and instead he sat there daydreaming and letting Will make a mess.  
  
He glared at Will who was munching on his second sandwich.  
  
"Will, that food was for everyone! We should have waited. What is Veronica going to say about her backpack? You've spilled honey all over it. Geesh, Will," Edward rolled his eyes. "Why'd you have to go and get us in trouble?  
  
Will sat up and reached for Edward's sandwich. "If you don't want to eat it, I will," he offered.  
  
Edward was really hungry and, after all, the damage was done, so he held the sandwich out of Will's reach.  
  
"I want it. We better try to clean up here, though, as soon as I'm finished."  
  
Edward bit into the gooey mess. It was good. He finished it up and was looking around for something else he could eat when he heard a strange chittering sound.  
  
Instantly alert, Edward looked over to see if Will had heard it, too.  
  
"What was that noise?" Will asked, alarmed.  
  
They heard it again. This time, a lot closer.  
  
The boys picked up their sticks and stood back to back. They couldn't see anything beyond the rock enclosure they were hiding in. Suddenly, Will pointed to a crack between the rocks. I thin, black…something…was waving around in the air. It seemed to be searching for something. More of it came pushing through the crack and landed on Veronica's backpack. It rubbed its hairy, black self in the sweet honey that coated the pack and then withdrew back through the crack.  
  
Will and Edward quickly pulled all of the backpack into the center of the enclosure. Edward picked up Marguerite's rifle and held it firmly in his hand.  
  
More chittering noises sounded from outside the rock walls. Suddenly, the largest spider Edward had every seen leaped up on a rock behind Will.  
  
"Watch it, Will!" Edward warned.  
  
Will twirled around and poked at the dog size arachnid with his stick. The spider reared up to avoid the stick and then jumped down onto the pile of backpacks. It started feeding on the honey, and it reached into the other backpacks with its long, black legs.  
  
"Will," whispered Edward. "Back up and let it have whatever it wants. It'll leave as soon as it's finished."  
  
In truth, Edward was terrified. Spiders, even little ones, scared him. He knew that he was being a baby about them, but he couldn't help it.  
  
Will had no such fear. Instead of heeding Edward's advice, he ran at the spider and began poking it again with his stick.  
  
"Go away, stupid spider," he yelled. "Leave our stuff alone."  
  
He was leaping back and forth, sticking the spider with every forward lunge.  
  
"Stop that, Will!" yelled Edward. "Get away from it!"  
  
His last warning came too late. The spider stopped it forging and jumped right on top of Will. Will's scream was muffled by the heavy black body that was crushing him down into the dirt.  
  
Edward was frozen with horror. His worst nightmare was right in front of him.  
  
He was brought out of his trance by Will's muffled voice calling him.  
  
"Edward, help!"  
  
Edward put down the rifle and, taking the small rocks out of his pockets, he began to throw them at the spider with all his might. The rocks bounced harmlessly off of the giant beast's back. He, then, picked up his stick. He slowly approached the ugly beast and poked the stick into this back. The spider didn't react, but continued to gather Will underneath his body.  
  
"Ouch!" Will cried. "It's biting me, Edward. Help!"  
  
Without another thought, Edward ran back and picked up the rifle and aimed it at the biggest part of the creature. He knew that Will was under there somewhere, but he couldn't see any part of him. Edward was smart and well trained. He didn't want to shoot downwards, with Will underneath. Edward had an idea. He got down on one knee, rested his elbow on the other knee to stabilize the rifle, pulled it tight against his shoulder, aimed, and pulled the trigger. He was knocked backwards by the rifle's recoil, but the bullet went in one side of the spider's largest hump and out the other side. A large spout of blood shot out of the wounds. The spider screamed and started moving towards the rock wall to escape. He dragged himself halfway up the side of the rock, blood running down in rivulets, and then fell back, dead.  
  
Will lay curled up in a little ball, right where the spider had left him. Edward ran over to him.  
  
"Will, Will!" he begged. "Don't be dead. Please, don't be dead!"  
  
"Is it gone, yet?" Will croaked.  
  
"Yes, yes! It's dead," Edward reassured him. "It's all right, Will. I killed it. I shot it dead!"  
  
Will uncurled in a flash. "Let me see it!" he said excitedly.  
  
He jumped up and, with Edward several paces behind him, he ran over to the bloody creature. The spider had landed on his back and his eight black, hairy legs had curled down towards its abdomen.  
  
Will kicked it. "Hah!" he shouted. "That'll teach you to mess with Edward Malone. He's the best shot on the plateau."  
  
Edward was flabbergasted. "You really think so, Will?" he asked with wonder.  
  
"I do, now," Will swore adamantly. He slapped Edward on the back. "Thanks for saving my life. Old man," he added.  
  
"Aww, it was just a stupid spider."  
  
Both boys froze and then turned slowly around at the now familiar chittering sound. A spider, bigger and hairier than the first one, was creeping towards them. Its long, black legs moved up and down as it stepped right on top of the rifle Edward had dropped on the ground. The boys were on one side of the pile of backpacks and all of their weapons were on the other…with the spider.  
  
Edward and Will looked around for a weapon, any weapon, but the only things close at hand were a few bananas and Challenger's scientific equipment. Edward quickly reached down and picked up a metal cylinder and threw it as hard as he could at the spider. It bounced off his back and crashed into the rocks behind it. Will grabbed up a bunch of bananas and threw them, one at a time, at the hideous thing. The spider stopped its forward motion to investigate the bananas. The boys backed up against the rocks behind them, but found that they had made a tactical error. The rocks behind them were too high for them to climb. They were trapped. They had no way out!  
  
Will threw the last banana, just as the spider gathered its legs under it and leaped straight at them!  
  
A shot rang out and the spider fell from the apex of its leap and landed in a heap on the ground. The boys screamed.  
  
Roxton jumped down from the top of one of the rocks, his rifle held up in the air. Ned, Challenger and Veronica came rushing in from the side. The boys ran to them, crying with relief.  
  
Challenger examined the boys to be sure that they were all right. Other then some scratches on Will's back, the boys were otherwise okay.  
  
The adults were shocked but delighted with Edward's bravery and marksmanship.  
  
Ned was beaming. "Where did you learn to shoot like that, Edward?" he asked.  
  
"Well," Edward said, embarrassed. "My dad taught me some, but Uncle John showed me the most. Me and Tori, and now Will, go out with him twice a week to shoot at targets. Alice is going to start soon." He was reminded of his other anxiety. He looked around in panic.  
  
"Hey, where is Alice? Is she all right?"  
  
"She's fine," Ned reassured him. "Her front tooth came out and it bled quite a bit. But she's okay now. Marguerite is walking back with the girls. We didn't know what kind of trouble you were in, so we left the girls back."  
  
Edward let out a breath of relief that his sister was all right.  
  
Veronica was looking around at the mess the boys had made of the backpacks.  
  
"What happened to our supplies?" she demanded. "Did the spiders do all that damage?"  
  
Will and Edward exchanged glances.  
  
"Well, most of it," he said. Edward gave him a look. "But I guess I made a little of it, too."  
  
Challenger took pity of the little boy. He had been through a terrifying experience.  
  
"I'll help you clean it up, Will," he said.  
  
"I'll help, too," volunteered Edward.  
  
While Roxton removed the spiders, the rest of the crew repacked the backpacks, throwing out the food the spiders had contaminated. Challenger groaned when he found his cylinder, but didn't make a huge fuss about it. He knew that the boys had to use anything they could to defend themselves.  
  
They were just about through with the packing up, when Marguerite, who had stayed hidden with the girls until she really needed to know what was happening, called loudly from the top of a rise a little distance away.  
  
"Roxton, are the boys okay? Can we come down?"  
  
Roxton hurried towards her. "They're fine," he called out. "Edward shot a giant spider that had Will pinned to the ground."  
  
"Edward shot a spider!" Victoria exclaimed in disbelief. "He's terrified of spiders."  
  
"Well, he's not anymore," Roxton assured her as he arrived at their spot. He pulled first Marguerite into a big hug and then picked up each little girl and hugged her, too. Victoria barely protested. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before he put her down.  
  
The girls ran down to see the boys and were taken to see the bloody, dead spiders that Roxton had piled a little way away.  
  
Roxton and Marguerite were slower to join the others.  
  
As soon as the girls had disappeared from view, he swept Marguerite into his arms and kissed her. She melted against him. She was surprise at how easily her defenses had fallen. Now that she had admitted her feelings for him, she found his mere presence intoxicating. They slowly parted, whispering, "I love you," to each other as, arms entwined, they started down the small hill.  
  
"Are the boys really all right?" she asked.  
  
"Oh, yes, they're all right. The young rascals managed to ransack our supplies, and made themselves a meal, which must have attracted the spiders. I'll have nightmares about what might have happened if Edward hadn't been such a sure shot." He shook his head at the possibilities. Memories of his own ill-fated attempt to save his brother from a similar situation were never far below the surface of his mind.  
  
Marguerite sensed where his thoughts were turning and quickly tried to distract him.  
  
"John, I don't know about you, but I think those dear, sweet children are giving me gray hair!"  
  
He ran his fingers through her lustrous, dark hair and pulled her head against his lips.  
  
"And I will love every gray strand of it."  
  
Marguerite smirked. "Well, you'd better, if you expect me to love that old, grizzled head of yours!"  
  
"Old, eh?" he quirked up one eyebrow and squinted his eye at her. "Be more respectful of your elders, my dear, or I'll have to show you what this old man can do!"  
  
"Is that a threat or a promise, elder one?"  
  
He pulled her against his chest. With one hand, he swept her hair away from her ear and nuzzled his face into her neck, kissing his way up to her delicate ear. Having reached his goal, he growled, "Take that as a promise, my love."  
  
Marguerite raised her arms to tangle her fingers in his short, bristly hair. She pulled his head up until she could rest her lips against his. She breathed into his mouth, "One you had better not break, my sweet."  
  
His blue eyes glittered into her gray ones. "Never." he swore as their lips met in a searing kiss.  
  
Breathing heavily, they broke apart and smiled at each other. The chase was over, but another kind of dance had just begun.  
  
The stolen moments, sexual tension, and repressed passions were still part of the excitement of their acknowledged love, but they knew from past experience that the flame of passion would die out without the mutual affection, honesty, and trust of true friendship. As much as they would like to be lovers, they wanted to be best friends first. They each determined that this relationship would be different from their past ones. They had seen what the future might hold in store for them and they wanted it…with all their hearts.  
  
Arm in arm, they walked back to the others. Expecting the usual chaos, they were surprised at the somber atmosphere of the campsite. The backpacks were neatly packed up and stacked for travel. The adults were sitting in the shade of the rocks, as were the children. However, the children, dusty and unhappy, were sitting several yards away from each other. The expressions on their faces made Roxton think that this separation was not voluntary on the children's part.  
  
As he and Marguerite stepped apart, he looked over at Ned and Veronica, who were sitting together talking in low tones.  
  
"What's up?" he questioned, jerking his head in the children's direction.  
  
Ned glanced over at the children with an exasperated look, but it was Challenger who answered.  
  
"Our young companions, here, thought it would be fun to…reenact…the attack of the spiders." He nodded his head toward Edward and Victoria. "Those two were playing the part of the spiders and the other were the victims. Well, let's just say that the spiders attacked unmercifully and the victims fought back a little too aggressively and the fight that ensued was no longer playacting. So," he continued, casting a warning eye at the perpetrators, "a cooling down period was declared fitting."  
  
Marguerite looked with astonishment at the three girls who had so lately been the models of cooperation. Summer, wilting under her gaze, starting crying. Big crocodile tears running down her face.  
  
Marguerite knew manipulation when she saw it, and turned her attention to Veronica.  
  
"Was all the food spoiled?" she asked.  
  
"No, we have enough for several small meals," Veronica assured her. "And, if we have to, we can find some food in the jungle."  
  
"Of course," she teased, "the boys have had their lunch, so, I'm sure they won't want more."  
  
Will and Edward sat up straighter. Will smiled a disarmingly charming smile at her and raised one eyebrow to add to his cuteness.  
  
"I think that I could eat a bit more, Veronica," he said politely. "Edward and I could share our lunch," he finished magnanimously.  
  
Hiding a smile, Veronica said, "We'll see."  
  
Summer, noting Marguerite's non-reaction, knew a lost cause when she saw one. She now turned her tear-streaked face towards Roxton and, with a giant sniff or two, held out her chubby little arms to the old softy.  
  
Roxton, ignoring Marguerite's negative shake of her head, scooped the tiny manipulator up into his arms.  
  
"Why the poor lamb is just hungry and tired. Aren't you, my sweet?" he cooed.  
  
Summer managed to squeeze a fresh tear or two from her glistening eyes as she nodded her head against his neck.  
  
"Ow, my tooth hurts, Uncle John," Alice said pitifully. She wasn't in Summer's league when it came to manipulation, but she gave it a try.  
  
Summer's head popped up from Roxton's shoulder. She looked at Alice with a puzzled frown, her tears drying on her cheeks.  
  
"How can your tooth hurt, silly? It's gone!" she said logically.  
  
"Well," lisped Alice, putting her tongue in the empty socket, "the hole hurdths!"  
  
Victoria rolled her eyes. She knew that this distraction would just lead to another and another.  
  
"We're wasting time," she complained. She turned to Challenger to enlist his support. "Professor Challenger, don't you think we should be going? The meadow is still pretty far away, isn't it?"  
  
"Victoria is right," agreed Challenger. "We must push on if we're to reach the meadow with time to thoroughly investigate these phenomenon."  
  
They all knew Challenger was right, but their stomachs told them they needed to eat. A compromise was reached in that they would eat as they continued their journey. Ned and Veronica volunteered to make sandwiches for everyone and soon they were on the trail again, munching on the sandwiches and passing around the canteens of water.  
  
Edward and Will were relieved that they had been given lunch, too. They had kept very quiet while the food was being passed out and, when Veronica had handed them their sandwiches, they accepted them with grins of gratitude.  
  
  
  
**  
  
Veronica's new way to the meadow was arduous for everyone but especially for the smaller members of the party. Up hill, over rocky ground, across streams and through dense jungle, the terrain changed as the morning wore on. The older children were determined to walk the whole way themselves, but the two youngest girls had no such determination. Roxton and Ned carried Summer and Alice on their backs, seated high on top of their backpacks. Marguerite walked with the older children, helping them over rocks and through streams, while Veronica scouted ahead.  
  
The closer they got to the meadow, the more Challenger seemed to withdraw from the group. He pulled out a tablet of paper and started scribbling and muttering to himself. He was determined to keep a complete record of these time portals. He had made many observations the first time he had discovered them, and he was anxious to see if there were any changes. But, the biggest question in his mind was one that had him the most worried…how was he to know which of the seven portals was the one that would take the children back to their timeline. He was the scientist of the group; it was up to him to make that call.  
  
Ned and Roxton walked silently side by side. They weren't talking because the girls, sitting on top of the backpacks with their legs slung over the men's shoulders, were singing songs and chanting rhymes. At the moment they were playing a lively rendition of Humpty Dumpty. Summer held Dolly by her arms and swung her back and forth as she and Alice sang, "Humpty Dumpty sat on a WALL!" yelling the last word each time. "Humpty Dumpty had a great FALL!" Dolly was sent flying up into the air. The floppy doll sailed over Roxton's head and landed on the ground, a little puff of dust marking her resting spot.  
  
"Now see what you've done, Summer," Roxton complained. "Your doll is all dirty and has probably broken her itty, bitty, little leg."  
  
Summer and Alice looked at each other over the top of Roxton's head and giggled.  
  
"Dolly can't break her leg," crowed Summer.  
  
"She's stuffed!" snorted Alice. Really, she thought, grownups could be very dumb about some things.  
  
"Kneel down, Roxton," ordered Summer. "I'll pick her up."  
  
"What do you think I am? A camel?"  
  
"Yes! A camel, a camel!" she chortled. "Kneel down, camel, and I'll be able to reach her."  
  
Ned laughed. "Yeah! Kneel down, camel and let Her Majesty save her fallen subject."  
  
Roxton scowled.  
  
"Her Majesty can get her royal little feet on the ground and pick up her "subject" herself."  
  
He reached up and grabbed Summer under her arms and swung her over his head, setting her firmly on the ground.  
  
"And, she can bloody well walk a while on those royal little feet, too," he added as he rolled his head side to side to ease the ache out of his neck and shoulders. "Talk about your royal pain in the neck!" he muttered under his breath.  
  
Summer had scramble over and picked up her Dolly. She blew some dust off of her and, sneaking a look back to check that Roxton wasn't watching, she quickly wiggled each of Dolly's legs back and forth before stuffing her into her dress pocket.  
  
Meanwhile, Alice had asked Ned to put her down, too. He was only too glad to oblige. Without that extra 40 pounds, his pack felt light as a feather.  
  
The girls started walking quickly. They wanted to catch up with the other children. Ned and Roxton walked a little way behind them, ready to step forward if they needed help.  
  
"Well, Ned," Roxton began guilelessly, keeping his voice low so the children couldn't hear him, "I've, eh, noticed that you and Veronica have gotten…closer lately." He rubbed his hand along the side of his chin. "Just how, ah…close have you gotten?"  
  
Ned was startled by such a direct question. But he was up for the challenge.  
  
"Oh," he said thoughtfully, "I guess about as close as you and Marguerite have gotten." He winked at his friend.  
  
Now it was Roxton's turn to startle. "Why, we've never…" he sputtered, until he caught the amused glint in Ned's eye.  
  
"You bugger!" John laughed. "I should know better then to try to pry information out of a journalist. They're the experts at asking impertinent questions, not answering them."  
  
Laughing, Ned slapped him on the back.  
  
"Let's just leave it that we are two very lucky men," he suggested.  
  
"Who hope to get luckier!" Roxton couldn't help adding. "Eventually!"  
  
A squeal interrupted their conversation. Alice and Summer had finally caught up with the other children and they were laughing and splashing each other as they crossed a small stream.  
  
Marguerite was hot and tired. Her patience was just about at an end.  
  
"Stop!" she scolded. "You're getting everyone wet. Walk across in the shallow area. Will, that will do! You may not push Victoria off that rock. Tori, please watch your step. That rock is very slippery. There! Didn't I just tell you it was slippery? Oh, don't worry, your dress will dry in this heat. Edward, you can not possibly look under every stone, and, besides, where would you put a salamander even if you found one? Alice and Summer! Stay where you are and I'll come over and help you. Oh, drat! I told you to walk where it's shallow!"  
  
She sighed in exasperation when she spotted the men coming up the path behind the little girls.  
  
"Well, where on earth have you been?" she asked, wiping her wet hands on her skirt. Not waiting for an answer, she continued. "Do you have any idea what I've been through?" She pushed her hair off of her face. She glared at Roxton who was smiling at her.  
  
"What is that asinine grin for?" she demanded, storming back across the creek to stand in front of him, hands on hips.  
  
"You are just so damned cute," John smirked. He pulled her into his arms and planted a big kiss on her lips.  
  
Shocked, Marguerite pushed against his chest. "John, what do you think you're doing? Everyone is watching! And what do you mean I'm "cute"? I look hideous! My hair has come out of its clip and I'm filthy…"  
  
John just grinned.  
  
She stopped in mid-sentence and cocked one eyebrow up. Her large gray eyes traveled up past John's stubbly chin, past his glinting, mischievous eyes, to rest on his tousled brown hair.  
  
"Why, John Roxton," she chided. "If anyone is cute, it's you. That little braid on top of your head is absolutely adorable!"  
  
John's grin faded. He quickly reached up to feel the top of his head, and what he felt made him burst out laughing.  
  
"Why that little scalawag! Summer must be quite agile with her hands. I didn't feel a thing."  
  
He called across the creek to Ned, who was waiting there with the children.  
  
"Hey, Ned. Check the top of your head. I think the girls were giving us a beauty treatment."  
  
Ned reached up and ran his finger through his hair. His hand came away with one of Alice's small, pink hair ribbons.  
  
Alice took the ribbon out of Ned's hand and explained to him, "Your hair was too short to braid, Daddy Ned, so I gave you a ponytail, instead."  
  
The children and adults all started giggling. Alice and Summer looked around to see if they were in trouble, but seeing everyone smiling, they joined in the laughter, too, thinking they had done a very clever thing.  
  
Challenger came up the path behind them, stowing away his notebook.  
  
"Well, you all seem to be having a jolly time. Did I miss something?"  
  
"No," smirked Marguerite. "You're just in time. The children are ready to hear another chapter of that story you were telling them. Aren't you children?" She winked at the grinning lot.  
  
"Oh, yes, Professor Challenger," enthused Edward. "Please tell us more."  
  
Flattered, Challenger crossed the stream and gathered the children around him.  
  
"Of course," he replied.  
  
"But mind you," he cautioned, "the next part is not for the faint of heart. Are you sure you're all brave enough to hear what happens next?"  
  
Enthusiastic nods met his inquiry.  
  
"Very well, then." He started walking, the children hurrying to keep up with his longer strides. "As you all remember, our hero…"  
  
Ned called back to Roxton and Marguerite. "I'm going ahead to look for Veronica." And he quickly walked past the story group and disappeared down the path.  
  
Marguerite smiled at Roxton. She was glad to be free of child watching duty for a little while. She was also glad to have time to spend alone with John. She took his hand as they slowly followed the others.  
  
John looked adoringly down at the woman he loved and said softly, "You are so beautiful."  
  
Marguerite widened her cool, gray eyes at him and pouted. "I thought you said I was cute?"  
  
"Cute is only the beginning of what you are," John assured her, kissing her lightly. Then he frowned as a thought crossed his mind.  
  
"Marguerite?" he began. "Just now, you seemed to be thoroughly fed up with the children." He hesitated before asking, "You haven't changed your mind about wanting children, have you?"  
  
Bracing himself for disappointment, he was shocked at her sudden outburst of laughter.  
  
"Don't get me wrong, John, I love those children, but, right now, I'm fed up to here with them," she told him, putting her hand to her forehead.  
  
She paused.  
  
"Now, I won't say I have the patience of a Saint," she quickly held her finger to his lips to stop him from commenting, "but, those little monsters have been testing what little patience I have all day." Her voice took on an exasperated tone. "I think they're trying to find out just how far they can push me before I crack." She sighed. "And, I'm tired. We're all tired. For the last three days, we've been taking care of five, energetic, strong-willed children. This has been harder work than fighting off the cannibals."  
  
She let go of his hand and slid her arm through his. She briefly leaned her head against his arm.  
  
"I have to admit, five children all at once is a bit overwhelming. I'm planning on my children coming one at a time." She looked up at him to see how he took that last sentence. He appeared to be taking the conversation calmly.  
  
"And, of course, if I have three or four children," she winced, "I'm hoping that with each child, I will be that much more experienced and not quite so overwhelmed."  
  
Roxton nodded his head. "I think that's how it works," he agreed. He said this calmly, but inside, he was dancing with joy. Marguerite, his Marguerite, who just a few days ago could hardly talk to him without snarling and hurling insults like croquet balls, was actually talking about having children…and he knew she meant their children.  
  
Before his joy could bubble to the surface, Ned and Veronica came tearing down the path towards them.  
  
  
  
**  
  
  
  
"Challenger! Challenger," they called.  
  
They stopped in front of the group, breathing hard. Their eyes were wide with wonder.  
  
"We've been to the meadow and you'll have to come immediately to see what's happening!"  
  
Veronica grabbed Challenger by the arm and started dragging him down the path.  
  
"Hold on!" he demanded. "You'll have to tell me what you saw so that I will have some idea if we're walking into danger."  
  
"We won't be in danger if we stay up on the cliff." Ned was hustling the children along. "Come on," he urged. "You won't want to miss this!"  
  
The map that Veronica had drawn took the adventurers to their destination by way of the towering cliff at the end of the meadow. From there, they expected to carefully make their way down using an ancient series of stone drops that had been cut into the cliff by what had once been a thundering waterfall. The waterfall was, now, not much more than a trickle of water running down one side of the rock shelves.  
  
Veronica and Malone shushed everyone as they approached the edge of the cliff. Each adult was in charge of keeping one child from falling over the edge. Roxton and Marguerite had Will and Summer firmly by the hand. They found a low boulder and sat the children on top, wrapping their arms around them. Malone and Veronica did the same with Edward and Alice, while Challenger and Victoria were lying on their stomachs very near the cliff's edge. He had his spyglass trained on the meadow far down at the foot of the cliff.  
  
Below them was a sight so incredible, that it was no wonder that Ned and Veronica could not describe it.  
  
The meadow was a heaving mass of humans and animals. Blue, misty swirls marked the openings of time portals too numerous to count. These portals now ringed the meadow. As each portal formed, something or someone either popped out or was sucked in. Into this ever changing scenario, moved people and animals in a loud clash of cultural mismatches that the explorers had never witnessed before. The children were shocked. They had never, in all their short lives, seen so many people in one spot, not even when Zanga and the Hagen tribes came together to trade.  
  
To make matters worse, a huge herd of brontosaurs grazed the short grasses of the meadow, seemingly oblivious to the many dramas playing out all around them. As the group on the cliff watched in fascination, a small dog caught Victoria's attention. It was barking madly at one of the towering sauropods. As Victoria watched, a middle aged lady dressed in a long, layered dress of pink and burgundy popped out of a vortex behind the dog and rushed forward to pick it up. She shook her finger in the dog's face in a scolding gesture. The dog barked again and the lady looked up at the huge head of the sauropod. The creature was slowly masticating a large mouthful of grass. The lady screamed, the feathers on her hat coming alive with her trembling. The moving feathers caught the attention of the dinosaur and it swung its long neck towards her. She backed up quickly to avoid the green, slimy juices that were dripping from the monster's mouth. Like the grass disappearing down the throat of the brontosaurus, the blue maw of a vortex suddenly opened behind her and sucked in the terrified lady and her little dog.  
  
Out of another swirling portal galloped two knights; their glistening armor sparkled in the sun. They pulled their horses to a stop just in time to avoid trampling down a herd of black-face sheep that bawled their confusion and fear before scampering under a brontosaurus and running into the jungle on one side of the meadow. The knights, spotting the brontosaurus, turned their helmeted heads towards each other in excitement, and, lowering their lances, charged at the peaceful beast. The victim of their quest took that moment to lumber too near a time portal and was pulled inside and vanished. The knights, their momentum unchecked, galloped straight into another portal and they, too, disappeared from the meadow.  
  
The children on top of the cliff clapped their hands with enjoyment. They had never seen such entertainment.  
  
A troop of soldiers, dressed in camouflage, were kneeing in formation, rifles trained on another military troop who were dressed in old fashioned uniforms of red and black. The bayonets on their guns glinted sharp and deadly. Each side appeared to be at a stand still. The leader of the camouflaged soldiers was talking into a small black box he held in his hand. He shouted into it, listened, banged it on his palm and finally, giving up, stuck it back into his belt. Neither side was willing to make the first move until the decision was taken out of their hands. Two of the brontosaurs meandered between the opposing ranks, swinging their long necks back and forth. One of the enormous creatures brought his small head close to the captain's leafy looking helmet and sniffed deeply. The terrified man backed up until he bumped into the first line of his troops. "Retreat!" he yelled. His troops ran in a ragged group until they were sucked en masse into a newly formed vortex.  
  
The red uniformed troops held their position, keeping a wary eye on the brontosaurs as they lumbered over to a small stand of trees on the edge of the meadow. Suddenly, out of a newly formed portal between the trees, leaped three African lions, roaring and snarling. This was too much for the brave troops. They broke ranks and ran. The lions stopped their noise and sank into the grass a few yards away from the grazing herd. Their tails twitched at the sight of the largest meals they had ever seen. However, the sight of the running troops quickly caught their attention and with a mighty roar, the hungry beasts sprang after the unfortunate men. As one of the soldiers disappeared into a waiting portal, the others, sensing safety, followed him in. The lions, not to be deprived of their prey, leaped in after them.  
  
As this scenario was playing out, a group of well-dressed businessmen, talking quietly among themselves, sauntered casually out of another portal. They stopped as they realized they were no longer on the street in their city. One after the other, their mouths fell open. The tallest one pointed with his gold topped cane at the slowly moving dinosaurs and yelled "Mon Dieu!" loudly enough for the group on the cliff to hear.  
  
As Challenger watched in excitement and trepidation, faster and faster, the portals swirled and sucked in anything that crossed in front of them. Three of the panic-stricken Frenchmen were sucked into one, two into another.  
  
Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, the portals began to collapse. As they collapsed, they spewed out what appeared to Challenger to be an almost visible…wind, like the air escaping from a balloon. This wind, however, was so strong, that a brontosaurus, caught in an outflow, was pushed sideways. He bellowed loudly at the unexpected shove and wandered out of the meadow. The others of his herd, hearing the warning bellow, followed along with him.  
  
Slowly, the portals all collapsed and the field was left empty and silent.  
  
  
  
**  
  
  
  
Everyone on top of the cliff was filled with shock and confusion. Edward finally asked the question that was on everyone's mind.  
  
"If all the time portals are gone, how will we get back home, Professor?"  
  
"Well, Edward, we will have to go down there and see if, indeed, they have all vanished," he replied heartily, trying to allay everyone's anxiety.  
  
"That's right, Edward," Ned said, slapping him gently on the back. "We'll look between every bush, and tree, and blade of grass, too. It will be like a…like a treasure hunt!"  
  
The children all perked up at this exciting prospect.  
  
Marguerite had walked over to the edge and peered over at the steep, uneven steps left behind by the ancient waterfall.  
  
"That's all very well, Ned," she complained. "But how were you planning on getting us down there?"  
  
Veronica joined her on the ledge. "Why, Marguerite," she exclaimed in surprise, "you just sit on your backpack and slide." She made a swooping movement with her hand.  
  
For one brief moment, Marguerite thought that she was serious, but when the children starting giggling, she tilted her nose in the air and stalked past Veronica.  
  
"Very amusing, Veronica. Your imagination has really improved since you've been spending every minute with Ned," she shot back.  
  
"Every minute?" Veronica said icily. "You're one to talk. You and John have been…"  
  
Roxton and Malone knew where this was going. They shoved the children over to Challenger and hurried over to the two women, who were facing each other, hands on hips.  
  
The men approached them with some trepidation even though they were used to dealing with these two stubborn, strong willed women. They had learned that they would have to come up with just the right approach or they would only make matters worse. However, this was no time for finesse.  
  
John closed in on Marguerite, swept her up into his arms and carried her away from the group. She fought him like a banshee. He carried her behind some rocks and low bracken. The other could hear her howls of indignation.  
  
Ned took Veronica's arm. "Why are you letting her get to you like that?" he said angrily. "You know she's just trying to goad you."  
  
"What does she know about us, Ned?" she growled at him. "I thought you said we'd keep our relationship a secret!"  
  
Ned pulled her a little further away from the others.  
  
"She doesn't know anything," he hissed at her. "She's just guessing."  
  
He changed his approach. His voice became wheedling and affectionate.  
  
"Our secret is safe, Veronica," he whispered in her ear.  
  
She smiled a little as he brushed his lips across her cheek. "All right," she said. "I know that teasing is just Marguerite's way." Her voice turned hard and sharp. "But she'd better keep her mouth shut about us!" she warned.  
  
Meanwhile, John and Marguerite were having a little talk of their own. Fierce whispers floated up  
  
"Would you please calm down!" John hissed. "What is going on with you?"  
  
"Oh, so it's all my fault? Little Miss Goody is never in the wrong, is she? Well, I can tell you that she isn't so pure and good as you men," she spit the word, "think. What do you think she and Ned are up to, huh?"  
  
"Probably the same as we are," John answered quietly. "Finding comfort with each other."  
  
Marguerite crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot on the ground. She rolled her eyes and sighed.  
  
"I hate it when you're right," she muttered.  
  
John smiled down at the ground. This was the side of Marguerite that the others seldom saw. She could be insufferably arrogant and incorrigibly selfish, but she was also surprisingly fair.  
  
"Let's go," he said.  
  
They walked back to the others, arm in arm.  
  
"Sorry, Veronica," Marguerite apologized. "I was out of line. Your business is none of my concern."  
  
Veronica grinned at her. "You're right," she agreed. "But, I'm sorry, too. I guess we're all a little on edge."  
  
Challenger, who had the children sitting on the ground eating a snack, rolled his eyes at them.  
  
"I feel as if I'm surrounded by nine children sometimes," he groused quietly. "Let's finish eating and get down to the meadow. I don't know about you all, but I'm anxious to see what's going on down there."  
  
They quickly finished their meal and packed up, again. The children were unusually subdued. They didn't like it when the grown ups disagreed.  
  
As she was putting on her backpack, Marguerite was accosted by little Summer.  
  
She tugged on Marguerite's skirt. Her face was screwed up with confusion.  
  
"Mar-greet?" she queried. "Why do you and Veronica fight so much? Don't you love each other?"  
  
Marguerite stooped down to hug the child with one arm. She looked over at Veronica who was conferring with Roxton about the best way to get everyone down the cliff. She smiled.  
  
"Don't you ever fight with your sister, Summer?" she asked quietly. The little girl nodded, her face slowly taking on a glow of enlightenment. She grinned at Marguerite.  
  
Marguerite gave her a quick hug and stood up. "Let's get going, Sweetie. We don't want to be the last ones down, do we?"  
  
The explorers began their descent. Some steps were so narrow that they were barely a foot width wide, while other, that had been undercut by the waterfalls force, looked thin enough to break off under their weight. But, by carefully lowering the children and the packs down each treacherous step, they made their way to the bottom of the cliff without any major mishaps. It took a good half-hour, though, before the intrepid group walked, once again, across the mysterious meadow.  
  
Edward and Victoria walked beside Challenger, who had taken the lead. His long strides making them stretch their own legs in order to keep up. They were almost as excited and curious as the red bearded scientist.  
  
"We'll walk the inside perimeter of the meadow first," he directed. "Stay towards the center, though, as the portals appear to form around the edges. We don't want anyone unexpectedly sucked in, do we?"  
  
They broke up into small groups and walked carefully around the meadow, keeping a sharp eye out for any signs of blue mist. The hot afternoon sun beat down of them as they searched, making them all wish to be under the enticing shade on either side of the large field. But they dared not get too close. Challenger was right. The time portals did seem to have a penchant for forming between the trees and bushes that ringed the meadow.  
  
Having made the circuit, they joined up again near the base of the cliff. The adults all agreed that they had observed nothing unusual. Everything appeared to be quiet and normal.  
  
They looked to Challenger for the next instruction.  
  
He stroked his beard as he considered the problem. His mind was spinning with theories and guesses and probabilities. Finally, he reached a decision.  
  
"Children, I would like you to reenact that day in the meadow. Show us as best you can where you were standing and go through the motions of what you did."  
  
The children looked at each other with growing excitement. This was going to be a lot more fun than that exhausting treasure hunt.  
  
Catching the adults by surprise, the children all took off in different directions, moving to the part of the field that they each thought was the best place to start.  
  
"Wait! Come back!" Challenger yelled. But they kept going, that is, until Marguerite shouted in her most imperious tone.  
  
"Stop! Immediately."  
  
Something in her voice made the children freeze.  
  
"Now come back here and we'll start again."  
  
They returned reluctantly to where the grownups were standing.  
  
Roxton stared at the disgruntled children. "It seems as if you each have a different idea of what happened that day. So, " he said decisively, "we will start with Victoria," he gave her a little bow. "And then move on to Edward and so on, down to the youngest."  
  
Victoria smiled at him. Summer scowled.  
  
Roxton held up a warning finger. "But, mind, I want you to start at the beginning, when you first entered the meadow, and then give us a step by step description of what took place."  
  
Victoria licked her lips. She was very cognizant of the importance of her job. She began shyly, in a low voice that gained strength as she continued.  
  
"Well, we came into the meadow from the path over there," she said, pointing down the meadow towards the jungle's edge. "The targets, four of them, were set up just about…here." She led them forward a few yards away from the cliff's base.  
  
"We all lined up to take turns. We had brought our spears and slingshots. I let the others go first," she said, lifting one eyebrow at the other children, daring them to say a word.  
  
"Go on," encouraged Challenger.  
  
She cleared her throat. "The little ones got tired of target practice and…"  
  
"We did not!" contradicted Summer indignantly. "You and the boys hogged all the turns, so me and Alice went for a walk."  
  
Alice nodded in agreement. "That's when we found the blue misty place. Right, Summer?"  
  
Veronica looked at Challenger. "Why don't we hear what Alice and Summer have to say," she suggested.  
  
"Hey," the boys cried.  
  
"That's not fair," complained Will. "I didn't get to tell you how I hit the target really well. Didn't I do well, Edward?"  
  
Roxton put his hand of the little boy's head. "You can tell me about your shooting later, Will. Right now, we need to hear about the time portal."  
  
"We didn't know it was a time portal, John," Alice blurted. "Honest."  
  
"Of course you didn't, Alice," Roxton reassured her. "Do you think you and Summer can show us where you found it?"  
  
Summer and Alice exchanged looks. Summer shrugged. "I guess so," she said uncertainly.  
  
"I know where they were, Uncle John," Edward spoke up. "When we heard Alice scream, we ran down this way." He started off, walking towards the far end of the meadow. The others followed.  
  
He stopped in front of some tallish bushes. He looked at Victoria and then at Will and Alice.  
  
"Alice was right here. She said that Summer had been sucked into the swirling, blue mist that we could see between these bushes here."  
  
Summer nodded, her lower lip trembled. "I threw my Dolly into it and I needed to get her back.  
  
"Okay, children," said Challenger. "We've heard this story before." He turned to the eldest two children. "Are you sure this is the place?"  
  
"We're pretty sure, sir," Victoria said. "But all of these bushes do look alike."  
  
Challenger stared at the bushes. Suddenly, he smacked himself on the forehead.  
  
"Right, right, of course!" Challenger strode around with excitement. He stopped and looked at the others. "Why didn't I think of it before," he said, berating himself. The others just looked more puzzled. "Don't you see?" he raised his voice. "We're looking on the wrong side!"  
  
"The wrong side of what?" Ned asked.  
  
"The bushes! The bushes," Challenger shouted excitedly. "If the entrance to our time is on the meadow side, then the entrance to their timeline is on the other side of the bushes."  
  
"Sounds reasonable to me," shrugged Marguerite.  
  
"But I looked on the other side of the bushes when Summer disappeared," Will said, plaintively. "And she wasn't there."  
  
"There, there, my lad," Challenger said soothingly. "According to my calculations, she wouldn't have been there. You see, she was on the other side of the bushes…in…our…timeline. Understand?"  
  
Will, his mouth turned down at the corners, nodded his head, then he shook it. "No, sir," he admitted sadly.  
  
Roxton laughed. "I'm with you, Will, old man. We must trust Grandpa Challenger, here, to know what he's talking about, eh?"  
  
Will looked up at him gratefully. "Yes, sir. Grandma says that Grandpa Challenger is the smartest man that ever was."  
  
"Did you hear that, Challenger?" Ned snickered. "You're a big hit with "Grandma."  
  
Veronica elbowed him in the ribs.  
  
"Ouch! What was that for?" he asked innocently.  
  
"We don't tease people about their relationships," Veronica stated with a sidelong smile at Marguerite.  
  
Marguerite smiled back.  
  
Challenger, however, was completely oblivious to Ned's teasing. His entire attention was given to solving the problem presented by the time portals. He strode up to the bushes and stood staring at them, his hands planted on his hips. He seemed to be waiting for the bushes to tell him something. And perhaps they did, because he turned decisively to the others and said, "All right, let's go see what's behind the bushes. Everyone, be very careful. We'll stay together. Let's go."  
  
Holding the children tightly by their hands, they passed between the bushes and into another field that was full of low scrubs, clumps of bushes and spindly trees. The lushness of the meadow was nowhere to be seen here. It was as if they had moved miles away instead of just a few feet. The grass, what there was of it, was sparse and brown. Green leafy bushes near the perimeter were replaced, within a meter, by bushes with large thorns and twisted roots.  
  
Challenger wondered which of the fields was the anomaly.  
  
"Stay back!" Challenger warned, pointing to one side of the field.  
  
The others froze where they were. Roxton looked over to where Challenger was pointing and started in surprise. The beautiful, whirling blue mist of two vortexes were only a few yards apart. The surprising thing was that one was swirling clockwise, the other counter-clockwise.  
  
Ned scratched his head in perplexity. "Have you seen this before, George?" he asked.  
  
Challenger shook his head. "I don't think so, Ned. I'm not sure what this means."  
  
Veronica had been looking intently around the field.  
  
"Challenger, there are two more over there," she said, excitedly, pointing down the field.  
  
Again, the group moved very carefully around the field looking for new portals. After an exhaustive search, they could find only the four they had observed when they first arrived.  
  
The children had dropped out of the search very quickly. They really were tired, so Marguerite volunteered to stay with them. She spread out a couple of thin blankets from the backpacks and gave the children a much needed drink and snack. Summer, Alice, and even Will, curled up and had a nap. Edward and Victoria, who understood what was at stake, were too tense to sleep. Marguerite distracted them by asking about their timeline on the plateau. They were only too happy to talk about their wonderful life. Marguerite was amazed at how peaceful and well organized the adults had made the environment for the children. She wondered how hard it was to keep the environment intact with all of the odd and unexplainable happenings and features of the plateau.  
  
Their respite was short, however, when the four, who had continued the search, came back with the news that the two portals furthest away were showing signs of collapsing. Even as they all stood and turned to look, they could see the telltale expulsion of wind as one and then the other portal collapsed and was gone.  
  
Now the decision was made easier and harder. The two portals by the bushes were their only choices left. And, yet, was it right to send the children through either of them when the stability of the portals was in question?  
  
The adults looked down at the children who had come to mean so much to them. They would keep them if circumstance made that the only decision, but they had made them a promise. A promise to get them back to their real parents and back to their real life. A life, from what the children had told them, that was so much more peaceful and settled and a whole lot less dangerous then the one they would have to live if they stayed in this timeline.  
  
But which portal to choose?  
  
Marguerite looked at her friends. She, like the others, was terrified that they would chose the wrong one. She turned to the man whose final responsibility it would be to make that choice.  
  
"Challenger, is there any way you can be sure which is the right portal?" she begged.  
  
"I…I just don't know," he said desperately. He turned to the children. "Children, when you came through the portal, was there anything you can think of that would help us recognize your exit point? Anything at all?"  
  
The children looked at each other. They tried to remember what they had seen as they searched for Summer in those first few minutes after they had come through the portal.  
  
"We can't think of anything unusual that happened, sir," Edward admitted. "Everything around here looks the same as it did before. I'm sorry."  
  
Victoria looked down at her little sister. Summer was young, but she had a good memory.  
  
"Maybe Summer can remember seeing or doing something when she came here," she spoke hesitatingly.  
  
Everyone looked at Summer. She smiled at them.  
  
"Okay, Summer," Roxton said as he stooped down beside her. "Tell us again what happened after you jumped after your Dolly to rescue her. Now, try to remember everything. Okay?"  
  
"Okay," Summer agreed happily. She just loved being the center of attention.  
  
They all sat down on the blankets. Roxton and Marguerite sat with "their" children, they held them close because, if they were successful, this would be the last time they could hold them at all. Ned and Veronica felt the same way and so held Alice and Edward close to them.  
  
Summer snuggled back into Roxton's lap. Like a veteran performer, she waited for her audience to settle down and focus their attention on her. When she was satisfied, she began her story.  
  
"Well, when I came out of the…port…port…mist, I looked for my Dolly. I looked everywhere. The rocks and sticks that Alice and I had thrown in were in great, big piles," she said this with her arms held out as far as she could. "So, I had to look through all of them. I called and called for Dolly, but she wasn't there! I got so mad at her. I didn't know where she was hiding. But, I found her! She was a good hider!" Summer laughed.  
  
"Where, Summer? Where did you find her?" Alice anxiously prodded.  
  
Summer knew she had her audience now. She leaned forward and looked around at everyone.  
  
"I…found…her…stuck…in…a…thorn…bush!" she finished, laughing triumphantly. "She was hanging by her dress." Summer's face clouded up. "She was a very naughty girl," she scowled. "When I pulled her down, she ripped a piece of her dress off." Her face brightened again. "But Mar-greet made her a new one." She pulled Dolly out of her dress pocket and held her up for everyone to admire. "See, isn't it beautiful?"  
  
"Very pretty, Summer," Challenger said distractedly. The adults were looking at each other, all thinking the same thing. Could it be that simple? As one, they plopped the children on the blankets and jumped to their feet.  
  
Marguerite and Veronica ran towards the first vortex, while Challenger, Ned and Roxton ran to the second one. They looked around wildly. The men were looking at bushes much too high off of the ground. They had not taken into consideration that Summer was a very little girl and that she would not have been able to reach very high.  
  
Marguerite had thought of that. With a cry of discovery, Marguerite ran towards a low, thorny bush about a meter in front of the vortex. The others, who now realized their mistake, ran over to see what she had found.  
  
There, hanging from a thorn by only a few threads, was a piece of greenish material. Marguerite recognized it immediately as the same material that she had removed from Dolly before she had made her the new dress.  
  
"Eureka!" Challenger laughed. They now knew which of the portals was the one that would send the children home.  
  
With this realization, came great sadness. This was it. The time had come and, by the look of the two vortexes, the time was now. Just as the other time portals before them, the two that were left had begun to swirl faster.  
  
The adults called the children over and holding back the tears, they hugged and kissed them. The children, though anxious to return to their own life, were very upset at leaving these new friends who had been so kind to them.  
  
Challenger was worried. He warned them that if they were going, they must go now.  
  
He stooped down and gathered them all into his arms. Then he sat back and held up an admonishing finger. "Now, remember, as soon as you get through, you must move away from the vortex as far as possible. It may collapse as soon as you are through and you don't want to get caught in the out-wind."  
  
Victoria hugged him again and promised to see to the little ones.  
  
Summer stuffed her Dolly deep into her pocket and ran to hug Marguerite one more time. "I love you, Mar-greet," she whispered in her ear. Marguerite held back her sobs with difficulty. "I love you, too, Summer Leigh."  
  
Will was in Roxton's arms. Silently, they embraced. John broke the embrace and leaned back to look into the face that was a smaller version of his own. He pushed the brown hair from Will's forehead and kissed him gently. "Good-by, son," he whispered.  
  
John and Marguerite set their precious burdens on the ground, and Roxton pulled Victoria and Summer into his arms. "Be good girls, now, you hear?" he told them, his eyes glistening with tears.  
  
"We will," promised Victoria. Summer just nodded.  
  
Marguerite had Will in a fierce embrace. As she let him go, the little boy turned back and kissed her cheek. "I'll miss you, Marguerite. You're fun!"  
  
She looked after him as he moved away. "I'm fun?" Marguerite whispered to herself. No one had ever called her that before.  
  
Now Victoria and Marguerite faced each other. They both knew that this good-by was going to be hard. Marguerite stooped down and gathered her into her arms. She could no longer keep the tears from flowing.  
  
"Don't cry, Marguerite," Victoria said, smiling bravely through her own tears. "Your face will get all blotchy."  
  
"Wouldn't want that, would we?" Marguerite gave her a watery smile.  
  
She took her thumb and wiped the tears from Victoria's cheek. "Tori, I just want you to know that if I ever have a daughter, I would wish her to be just like you."  
  
"I hope you get your wish, Marguerite," she said hugging her again. "You're going to make a great mother."  
  
Ned and Veronica were having just as much trouble saying good-by to Edward and Alice. Edward was trying to be a little man. He shook hands with Ned and kissed Veronica's hand as he said good-by. But, Ned and Veronica would have none on that! Ned picked him up and, as Veronica leaned on Ned's shoulder, Edward put his arms around both of them in a big bear hug of a good-by.  
  
Alice was a mess! The tenderhearted little girl could no more hide her feelings then she could the moon. She cried; she clung; she kissed; she sobbed. She could only be persuaded to let them go when Edward reminded her that her own parents were waiting for them.  
  
At last, they could put it off no longer. Challenger urged them to hurry as the spin of the vortexes was increasing.  
  
"Now, remember, everyone, as soon as the children get through, we must get out of the way so that we won't be caught up in the wind of the collapse."  
  
"Yes, yes, Challenger. You've told us all that. We understand," Marguerite said peevishly.  
  
He had the children hold hands and stand near the time portal that led to their timeline. The adults clung together a little further back. The vortex spun faster and faster.  
  
"All right," Challenger shouted. "There's no time to waste. When I count to three, run into the vortex," he instructed.  
  
"ONE, TWO, THREE!"  
  
The children ran into the swirling mist and were sucked away.  
  
The vortex began its final collapse. Just as it fell into itself, a tiny boot came popping out. Marguerite, who had cleaned that same boot not too long ago, ran forward to catch it.  
  
John yelled, "No, Marguerite!" They all ran forward to pull her back. Both time portals chose just that time to blow out their powerful dying, breath and, showing no mercy, caught all five of the explorers in their windy blast. It sent them rolling and tumbling across the ground where, at last, stopped by the low, thorny vegetation, they lay, still as death.  
  
THE END (ALMOST) 


	6. EPILOGUE- The Adventure Ends

EPILOGUE - The Adventure Ends  
  
Three of the four unconscious people lying on the dusty, rocky ground began to stir.  
  
Lord John Roxton slowly opened his eyes. He wondered where he was and why there were knives stuck in his backside. He raised himself up on one elbow, squinting his eyes against the pain. He looked over his shoulder and grimaced. He was lying on a thorn bush. And not just any thorn bush, but one with thorns as long as darning needles! With much groaning and cussing, he managed to disentangle himself from the offending bush and got to his feet.  
  
He heard a moan from behind him and, turning carefully, he saw Veronica standing holding her head. Her bare legs and arms were crisscrossed with scratches. He started to move towards her when he heard an even louder moan that floated up from behind some low shrubs to his right. He would recognize that moan anywhere.  
  
"Are you all right, Veronica?" he called to her. She nodded her head, wincing slightly.  
  
Roxton moved as quickly as he could around the shrubs that hid the moaner. He prayed that Marguerite was not badly hurt. He stopped in surprise when he saw Marguerite lying on her back behind the shrubs, eyes dark with irritation. Her irritation stemmed from the fact that the still mostly unconscious Ned Malone was lying on top of her.  
  
"I came to rescue you, Marguerite," he laughed. "But now I'm not so sure you'll want me to."  
  
Marguerite growled and tried to push Malone off. Ned moaned and flopped back and forth.  
  
Roxton laughed again. "I guess I should leave, and give you two some privacy," he smirked.  
  
"Don't you dare leave me here, John Roxton," she said between clenched teeth.  
  
Ned groaned again and rubbed his head into her chest.  
  
"And get him the hell off of me!" she demanded.  
  
Still laughing, John grabbed Malone by his shoulders and rolled him over onto his back. Ned groaned again, then opened his eyes.  
  
"Where am I?" he asked groggily.  
  
"Not very original, Ned," Roxton chided, clicking his tongue.  
  
Marguerite sat up and reached her hand up for Roxton to help her to her feet.  
  
He pulled her up and she stood swaying for a minute. Ned sat up, too.  
  
"It might not be original, John," he protested. "but it's relevant. Just where in hell are we?"  
  
Veronica came walking gingerly over to join them. She was dragging one of their backpacks she had found. She stooped down next to Ned and put her hand on his head.  
  
"Are you all right?" she asked.  
  
He nodded. "I think so." He staggered to his feet. "Were we all trampled by a herd of dinosaurs, or what?"  
  
"I think it must be "or what", Ned, and I sure would like to know what," Roxton said. He had a sudden thought.  
  
"Where's Challenger?" he asked in concern. "Does anyone remember if he was with us?"  
  
"No," answered Marguerite. The other two just shook their head.  
  
"Challenger!" Roxton called. "Where are you!"  
  
They listened, but heard nothing.  
  
"We'll have to search for him," Roxton decided. "Are you all well enough to walk?"  
  
Besides some bumps, bruises, and scratches, they decided that they weren't so badly hurt. They quickly stared looking for the leader of their party.  
  
They found him a few yards away. He was still unconscious. His friends made him as comfortable as they could and felt for broken bones. He seemed to be in one piece, so they sat down with him until her regained consciousness. It wasn't long. He groaned and his eyes flickered, until he could finally open them fully.  
  
"Where am I?" he whispered.  
  
He didn't understand why the others howled with laughter.  
  
Ned finally got himself under control and told him, "We're waiting for you to tell us!"  
  
Challenger sat up and took a drink of water from the canteen that Veronica held out for him.  
  
"Are you sure you're all right?" she asked him seriously.  
  
"Yes. Yes, my dear. I'm a tough old bird. I'll be fit to travel soon."  
  
Roxton and Marguerite had been walking around, gathering up their belongings. The rifles hadn't gone far, but they found their hats as far as twenty meters away. They didn't remember just what equipment they had brought with them, but after finding two backpacks, they assumed that each one of them had been carrying a full pack. Luckily, the pack seemed to have been packed and closed tightly before whatever had happened to them had happened.  
  
They carried and dragged everything they could find back to where Challenger sat with Ned and Veronica. Ned was treating their scratches with the antiseptic goo that they always packed when they went exploring.  
  
John and Marguerite sat down.  
  
"Well," said Marguerite. "I don't suppose any of you remember where we are or what we were doing here?"  
  
"I might know where we are," answered Veronica, pulling a folded paper out of her pack. "This looks like a map."  
  
"A map? Let's see it," insisted Marguerite. She pulled it away from Veronica.  
  
"Hey!" Veronica protested. "Don't you think that I might be able to understand it a little better than you can?"  
  
Marguerite was turning the map around and around trying to make some sense of it. She thrust it back at Veronica.  
  
"Be my guest."  
  
Veronica gave her a dirty look but took the map and scooted closer to Challenger. They pored over the map. Suddenly Veronica's face brightened.  
  
"I know where this place is," she said excitedly. "There should be a cliff back that way, and if we go this way," she pointed in the direction of the meadow, "we should be able to reach home before dark."  
  
Everyone brightened up.  
  
"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Marguerite jumping up. "I can't wait to have a nice, hot shower!"  
  
"Sit down, Marguerite," said John. He pulled her back down beside him. "Now that we know the way home, maybe we can figure out what we were doing here."  
  
Challenger cleared his throat. "I might be able to enlighten you, but I'll need to study my notes." He looked around at his friends. "Why don't we start for home and I'll see if I can decipher my scribbles."  
  
Again, Marguerite was the first one up.  
  
"Oh come on, everyone. Who cares why we were here? Isn't it enough that we know how to get home?" She shrugged on her backpack, picked up her rifle, and walked towards the meadow.  
  
As she reached the dividing line of bushes, she looked back at the others, who were still sitting on the ground.  
  
"Well? It'll be dark in a few hours. Chop, chop! Let's go!"  
  
Roxton bowed as he sat. "Coming, Your Highness."  
  
He stood up and looked at the others. "She does have a point. We don't want to be out after dark."  
  
The others stood up. Roxton looped Challengers pack over his shoulder with his own. When Challenger started to protest, John said, "Now, George. You need to concentrate on finding out what we were doing out here. If your pack gets too heavy for me, I'll give it back. Now, I suppose that you'll want your journal out of it before I close it up."  
  
Challenger took out his journal and tucked it under his arm. He was really grateful that John had shouldered his pack. As he started walking, he found he'd sustained more bumps and bruises than he had realized.  
  
Roxton hurried to catch up with Marguerite. Ned and Veronica walked behind Challenger. Veronica leaned over to whisper to Malone.  
  
"How can Roxton be such a lapdog to that woman?" she snorted in discuss. "Doesn't he realize that she's a selfish, egotistical."  
  
"Shhh!" Ned warned. "Marguerite is Marguerite. Roxton is a smart man. He must see something worthwhile in her. Maybe we should try harder to do so, too."  
  
Veronica looked at him contemplatively, then shrugged. "Since we're stuck with her, I guess we'll have to give her the benefit of the doubt." She frowned. "But don't expect me to give in to her."  
  
"I would never expect you to do that," Ned said facetiously.  
  
Challenger, who was already deeply absorbed in his journal, looked up and saw that Ned and Veronica were ready to go.  
  
"Wait up!" he called to Roxton and Marguerite, who were already out of sight.  
  
The dust from the dry ground rose up around their feet as they began the long walk home.  
  
Drifting back down, the wind from their passing blew the dust over a well- worn, little leather boot, half buried under a thorn bush on the edge of the meadow.  
  
**  
  
The elevator reached the top level of the treehouse. Marguerite flung herself out of it.  
  
"Time portals.vortexes! Why in the world would you drag us out to look for these.these ridiculous.theories of yours, George!  
  
"Now, now, Marguerite," soothed Roxton. "George's journal does indicate that we might have found these time portals. But, what I can't understand is, who are those people his journal mentions. And where did they go?"  
  
Challenger came down the steps behind them, his nose still buried in his papers.  
  
"I can't answer your questions, John, at least not right now. But I will tell you this.those people we were with had found the time portals first and told us about them." He looked up musing. "They must have been scientists of some sort. Their description of the portals is extremely detailed. It's really too bad that we can't remember them," he sighed.  
  
"I guess we might never know exactly what happened, eh, George?" Roxton said thoughtfully.  
  
"Oh, I hope to figure it out some day, old man. We can't have the mysteries of the plateau stump us forever. I'm convinced that everything here has one simple explanation."  
  
"What's that, George?" Ned asked, as he and Veronica stepped down from the elevator.  
  
"I was telling John, that all of the mysteries we have encountered since we've been stranded here are all threads of a.tapestry, which, one day, I am convinced, will form a picture that will explain everything."  
  
"Now, that is something worth waiting for," Ned exclaimed.  
  
A howl came from the sleeping quarters. They all rushed back to see what new disaster had befallen them.  
  
Marguerite was standing in the doorway of her bedroom, hands on hips, and a furious frown on her pretty face.  
  
As the others came running up behind her, she stormed, "Someone has been in my room! Just look at this mess. Pillows on the floor.the bed sheets all wrinkled and.and dirty! And my shawl! What in the world is it doing hanging up there?"  
  
She turned to John, her large eyes wide. "I think we've had intruders while we've been gone. God knows what they've taken." She turned to the other. "Everyone check your room.see if anything is missing!"  
  
"Wait, wait," Challenger said hurriedly. "I don't think we've had intruders, I think we've had house guests." He looked at their unbelieving faces. "Look, it makes sense. These people mentioned in my journal must have been staying with us. Do check around, maybe we can discover who they were." He waved his hands to shoo them out.  
  
They each went to look in their rooms and soon met back in the kitchen. They sat around the table and had something to eat and drink as they discussed the results of their search.  
  
"Well," Ned began. "All the bedrooms look pretty messy, but nothing seems to be missing and we found nothing left behind by these.house guests."  
  
"That's strange," Challenger mused. "One would think that we would find evidence if five people had been sharing our home." He continued thoughtfully, "Although, I did notice that Summerlee's small alcove has been cleaned out and may have been used as a bedroom."  
  
Roxton cleared his throat. "Well, I found "evidence" of something, but I don't think it will help identify our guests."  
  
"Well don't keep us in suspense, John. What did you find?" Marguerite asked curiously.  
  
Roxton looked at her uncomfortably. "Err, perhaps it would be better if I showed you in private, Marguerite."  
  
"Nonsense!" she said. "What could you possible have found that you can't share with everyone?"  
  
John shrugged. "Okay," he said, "but don't say I didn't warn you."  
  
From behind his back he pulled out a silky, white nightgown.  
  
Marguerite jumped up. "That's my gown," she gasped, taking it from him. "Where did you find it?"  
  
"In my bedroom," stated Roxton, trying to keep a straight face. "On the foot of my bed."  
  
Marguerite narrowed her eyes at him. "Just what are you implying?" she said in a dangerous voice.  
  
Roxton held up his hands in innocence. "I wouldn't dare imply anything," he assured her.  
  
He leaned over to whisper in her ear. "But let's go and talk about it." He raised an eyebrow at her.  
  
"I don't know what there is to talk about," she said haughtily. But she got up and left the room with him.  
  
The candles on the table flickered hypnotically. The night pressed in around the treehouse, reminding the explorers that they had had a weary, unsettling day.  
  
Challenger yawned. "Well, I'm going to call it a day. I'll see you in the morning." Tired and sore, he hobbled down the stairs to his private area behind his laboratory.  
  
Ned and Veronica were left alone in the quiet kitchen. Ned got up and returned to the table with a bottle of sweet wine made the previous year. He held it up in a mute question to Veronica. She nodded her head and he set it on the table as he went to find two glasses.  
  
He sat back down and started pouring the wine.  
  
Veronica giggled. "I wonder what Roxton and Marguerite are talking about?"  
  
"I really think they're talking about their future. It's obvious that they care about each other very much," Ned said wistfully.  
  
Veronica leaned towards him. "Maybe we should start talking about our future, too, Ned," she whispered.  
  
Ned's hand jerked in surprise and he spilled wine on the table. To cover his confusion, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his handkerchief to wipe up the spill. A small object tumbled out of the soft cloth and bounced across the table.  
  
Veronica looked at it, a puzzled frown on her face. "What is that, Ned?" she asked.  
  
Ned finished cleaning up the wine and reached for the tiny, hard object. He turned it over in his hand. "I thought it was a stone, but, and I know this sounds unbelievable, I think it's a child's.tooth!"  
  
They stared at each other. Was this tooth related to their houseguests? How did it get in Ned's pocket?  
  
Veronica picked it up. "I think we should keep it, Ned. I'll put it away until we find out who it belongs to."  
  
Ned nodded in agreement, but his mind was on what Veronica had said earlier. He reached out to cover her hand with his.  
  
"Did you really mean what you said, Veronica. About us having a future.together.  
  
"Maybe," she blushed. "It's something to think about, anyway."  
  
Ned couldn't help grinning. This day wasn't turning out so badly, after all.  
  
Keeping one of her hands in his, he raised his glass of wine, and looked over at Veronica, his heart in his eyes.  
  
"To the future," he said.  
  
Veronica touched the rim of her glass to his.  
  
"Wherever tomorrow takes us."  
  
**  
  
Five children came tumbling onto the soft, tender grasses of the sunny meadow. A great puff of wind blew over their heads, lifting the children's hair and sending Victoria and Edward rolling over one more time.  
  
"Oof!" puffed Edward as he landed on his stomach.  
  
"Ouch!" groaned Victoria, clutching her knee.  
  
"I've lost my boot!" announced Will as he sat up  
  
"Summer!" shouted Alice with delight. "You're back!" She walked on her knees over to the little girl who was lying on her back staring up at the sky.  
  
"Hi, Alice," she grinned at her friend, as Alice helped her up. "Where have I been?"  
  
"You went to find Dolly. Don't you remember?"  
  
"Did I find her?" asked Summer hopefully. She patted her pocket, Dolly's special place, and brought out her favorite doll. "Gosh, Dolly, where did you get such a beautiful dress?"  
  
Her eyes full of wonder, she turned to her big sister, who was just getting to her feet. "Did you make Dolly as new dress, Tori," she asked puzzled. Tori was the only one of the five who could sew.  
  
Victoria's knee hurt and, for some reason, she was in a really foul mood, without quite knowing why.  
  
She snorted, "I didn't give your stupid doll a new dress. And, the next time you go running off, Summer, we're not going to let you play with us anymore. I am sick and tired of all the trouble you cause. Look at my dress! It's all stained and wrinkled." She wiped at the stains on her dress to no avail.  
  
Edward and Will had gotten to their feet as well. Will was hopping around on one foot looking for his boot. Edward had gone to look for the spears they had dropped when they went after Summer.  
  
"Oh, for the love of Pete," he said irritably. "Don't be so hard on Summer, Tori. She's just a little kid. She can't help getting into trouble."  
  
Tori didn't like Edward turning on her. It had never happened before. His disloyalty only emphasized the feeling she had of things not being right. Her unsettled mood intensified. She turned her annoyance towards Will.  
  
Will was still hopping around saying to himself, "Where's my boot? Where's my boot?"  
  
"Will, Dad's going to be really mad at you if you've lost it. Yours were going to Summer, and I haven't outgrown mine yet."  
  
"Help me look for it, please, Tori. I don't want Dad mad at me," pleaded Will.  
  
Victoria rolled her eyes and blew her hair out of her face. "All right. But I'm just helping you so that we all don't get into trouble."  
  
Alice and Summer had seated themselves back down on the grass to admire Dolly's new dress.  
  
"Where did she get it, Summer?" asked Alice. She thought that Dolly was wearing a green dress this morning.  
  
Summer shrugged, then her face brightened. "Mar-greet.I mean Mommy made it.I think." She frowned in frustration. "Oh, I don't know, but it's very pretty."  
  
Alice nodded in agreement. "Do you think she'll make one for my doll?"  
  
"Sure!" Summer told her. Alice grinned.  
  
Summer's mouth hung opened. "Why, Alice, where is your tooth?" she exclaimed.  
  
Alice snapped her mouth shut and felt the gap in her front teeth with her tongue.  
  
She turned to Summer, just as puzzled. She was struggling to remember something.  
  
"It bled a lot and I.I cried." The scene in her head faded away as she tried to remember the rest.  
  
Just then, Edward came back with the spears. His face worn a puzzled frown.  
  
Victoria looked at his face and the uneasy feeling intensified.  
  
She turned to her brother and snapped with little sympathy, "Well, Will, I can't find your boot. I guess you'll just have to face the music with Dad."  
  
Will sat down and rested his arms across his bend knees. "It's not my fault," he muttered, leaning his chin on his folded arms.  
  
Edward sat down beside him. Victoria threw herself down on the grass, too. Her mind was in turmoil. She hated to admit to her uncertainty, but she had to know.  
  
"I don't know what it is, but.I can't remember what we were just doing," she threw out.  
  
"Well," Edward said thoughtfully, "we were throwing our spears at the targets.  
  
"And then Alice said that Summer had." Will stopped in confusion.  
  
"She threw her Dolly in the hole," piped up Alice.  
  
"So. we reached in the.hole and pulled Summer out?" Victoria asked.  
  
"I threw my Dolly in a hole," stated Summer with conviction.  
  
Victoria signed. "Okay then, where's the hole and how did Summer fit into it?"  
  
Edward sighed, too.  
  
"I know what you mean, Tori. Something strange is going on."  
  
She nodded. "I think we should just go home."  
  
"Yes, let's," he agreed.  
  
"Time to go home, everyone," Victoria said, as she stood and brushed off her dress.  
  
Summer jumped up. Humming, she held Dolly by her arms and swung her back and forth.  
  
Alice walked beside her, pushing her tongue in and out of the new gap in her teeth.  
  
Limping behind all of them, Will was dreading the coming confrontation with his father. He hated it when he disappointed him.  
  
Victoria and Edward led the group across the meadow towards the path for home.  
  
Something was definitely wrong. As they looked around the peaceful field, flashes of other scenes and people moved quickly through their memory. Two phantom knights galloped across the meadow right towards Edward. He turned to point them out to Victoria when the memory vanished before he could form the words. Victoria whirled around at the sound of a dog barking, only to feel foolish a moment later.  
  
"Let's hurry," Victoria gulped.  
  
As the five reached the middle of the field, a most welcome sight greeted them. Out of the shade of the jungle path, walked the Roxtons.  
  
Marguerite was behind John. She peeked over one of his shoulders and then ducked down, only to pop up behind his other shoulder. This insane behavior was all for the benefit of the chubby, dark-haired baby in Roxton's arms. John laughed as Margaret Rose giggled so hard at her mother's antics that she started hiccuping.  
  
"Stop, Marguerite. Rosie's going to hiccup right out of my arms. Aren't you, my little Rosebud," Roxton cooed to his youngest child. His little Rosebud reached up and grabbed his mustache.  
  
"Ouch, Rose! Here, Marguerite," he said handing the baby to her. "You and your daughters are tougher on me than a whole pack of raptors!"  
  
Marguerite held the baby up in front of her. She shook her long, dark hair enticingly in Rose's reach.  
  
"And to think, Rose, your father was once the bravest man in the world," she confided to the laughing baby.  
  
"Brave? You bet I'm brave," John said, getting ready to run. "I married you, didn't I?"  
  
"Let's get him, Rosie!" Marguerite tucked the baby securely on her hip and took off after her husband.  
  
Rose crowed with laughter. She was the happiest, best-tempered baby her parents had ever seen. Nothing seemed to upset her.  
  
As Roxton came loping towards them, Victoria and Summer ran up to meet him. Summer jumped into his arms and Victoria hugged him around his waist.  
  
"We caught him for you, Mom," yelled Victoria.  
  
"You'd better give up, Daddy," warned Summer.  
  
Marguerite came running up, laughing and breathing hard.  
  
"Thank you, my darling daughters. Now if you'll take your baby sister for a minute, I'll lean on this handsome man and catch my breath."  
  
Rosie squealed with delight as Victoria took her from her mother. The three girls sat down on the grass and Summer let Rosie play with her Dolly.  
  
Marguerite's eye fastened on the new dress Dolly had on and a puzzled look crossed her face. She looked up at John. "Didn't I have a scarf like that a long time ago?" she asked uncertainly.  
  
John raised his eyebrow and leered at her. "I wouldn't know. I had my eyes on your more interesting garments."  
  
She smacked his arm. "Behave yourself."  
  
"Never!" he smirked.  
  
Will shuffled towards his parents. "Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!" he smiled at them charmingly. "Gosh, Dad, you look really nice today. Did Mom cut your hair, again?"  
  
Roxton cocked his head and squinted his eye at his son. Something was up. When William was charmingly polite, trouble was brewing.  
  
He cut right to the chase. "You might as well confess right now, Will. We'll only find out later."  
  
Will hung his head. "I lost one of my boots," he whispered.  
  
Roxton temper began to rise. Will was notorious for losing things. Marguerite put a restraining hand on his arm.  
  
"I'm sorry to hear that, Will. Now, you'll have to stay at home until Ranobu can make you a new pair." Ranobu was a man from the Zanga village who made all of the families' leather garments.  
  
Will nodded his head in resignation. He hated the thought of staying cooped up in the treehouse. It would be no use to argue, though. His parents wouldn't believe that it wasn't his fault. He couldn't help it if his boot got sucked off in the vortex. He looked up quickly. Now where had that thought come from? What was a vortex? A moment later the thought was gone.  
  
As two more people emerged from the shadows of the path, the group turned to watch their approach.  
  
Ned was laughing at something Veronica was saying. They didn't see the children until Alice yelled.  
  
"Mommy, Daddy, I lost a tooth. I lost a tooth."  
  
She ran to them holding her mouth open with her finger. Edward was close behind her.  
  
"Let me see, sweetheart." Veronica stooped down to look. "Look at this, Daddy," she said to Ned. "Our little girl is really growing up."  
  
Ned stooped down, too. "Hey, I think that I can see your big tooth coming in already!"  
  
Alice's grin widened.  
  
"Where's your tooth, Alice?" Ned asked.  
  
"It's in your pocket, Daddy," Alice answered immediately. Then she frowned.  
  
Ned looked surprised. "I don't think so," he said, patting each of his pockets.  
  
"I.I guess I lost it," Alice confessed. She really couldn't remember when it had fallen out.  
  
Veronica looked over at Ned. "That's all right, Alice. I think the tooth fairy will come anyway..."  
  
"Wait," she said, a memory of something that happened a long time ago coming to mind. "Ned, don't we have a little tooth that we saved in my mother's box?" At Ned's bewildered frown, she said slowly, "Remember?"  
  
Ned nodded in astonishment. "I do now." He looked down at his beautiful daughter. "You know, Alice, I think we have a tooth for the tooth fairy to find, after all."  
  
Relieved, Alice grinned again.  
  
All this time, Edward had been studying his mother. A memory was trying hard to surface. He frowned as he looked at her red hair, which today she wore in a braid down her back. He noted how the sun glinted off of her spectacles that precariously perched on her nose. She had a habit of absentmindedly pushing them up every few minutes. She wore a long dress made in a Zanga fashion. It was very pale green with white swirls running along the hem. It was made to cover one shoulder and hung loosely from her waist. But, that wasn't what caught Edward's eye. As his mother grinned back at Alice, with a grin that was very familiar, the memory he was trying so hard to bring up, suddenly surfaced.  
  
He turned quickly to his father, a frown on his face.  
  
"Dad?" he asked. "Did you ever tell me a story about a jungle princess, who had long blond hair, and she grew up on the plateau, and she could outrun a raptor, and she wasn't afraid of anything?" He stopped for breath and squinted up his eyes, trying to hold on to the memory. "Her clothes were made of lizard leather and they were very short, and." He stopped. The memory was gone.  
  
Veronica turned to Ned, her eyes full of fear.  
  
Ned took a deep breath and said in a voice that was carefully controlled. "I didn't tell you that story, Edward. Do you remember where you heard it?"  
  
"I don't remember, Dad." He shrugged, losing interest. "I guess I must have made it up.  
  
Veronica turned away to hide her shaking from the children.  
  
Ned said hastily. "Edward, take Alice and start for home. We'll catch up with you." He looked at Veronica's hunched shoulders, then turned to the children and made a pushing motion with his hands. "Hurry now or we'll be late for lunch. Grandma and Grandpa are coming over and bringing a special treat."  
  
"Hooray," cheered Alice. "I can show them my missing tooth."  
  
She grabbed Edward's hand and they both took off for home.  
  
Ned turned quickly to Veronica. He put his arm around her shaking shoulders.  
  
"It's all right, Sweetheart. Edward doesn't remember where he heard that story. He'll forget about it in a few days. You know that none of us would have told him. We all know the risks."  
  
Veronica was almost hysterical.  
  
"The children are in danger, Ned! We have to get them away."  
  
"There's no place to take them that would be any safer than here, with us. We'll just be extra vigilant. Besides, Alice will be seven soon, and the worst risk will be over."  
  
She turned her face into his shoulder. "Sometimes I think we were selfish to have children, Ned," she whispered. "When I think of the danger we've put them in."  
  
"It will be all right. We'll make it all right." he reassured her, trying to keep the hollowness out of his voice.  
  
The Roxton family walked up to them. Marguerite and John were immediately aware that something was wrong.  
  
"Where are the kids?" she asked, keeping her voice calm.  
  
"We sent them on ahead. Why don't yours try to catch up with them?" Ned asked, sending her a signal with his eyes.  
  
"You heard him, kids. Edward and Alice are going to beat you home. You'd better hurry."  
  
The children grinned and took off running.  
  
Marguerite called after Will, "Be careful, Will. Watch where you're stepping!"  
  
As soon as the children disappeared, John, who held the sleepy Rosie, turned to his friends.  
  
"Okay, what's up?" he demanded.  
  
Veronica bit her lips and looked up.  
  
Ned, seeing that she couldn't talk, said, "Edward said something that makes us think he knows about Veronica."  
  
"Oh, no!" gasped Marguerite, embracing the distraught woman.  
  
Roxton looked over their heads at Ned. He gave a curt nod.  
  
"We'll sound Edward out about it tomorrow. I'd certainly like to know where he got his information." he said. "And Challenger will be over for lunch, we'll get his advice, too."  
  
As Marguerite stepped back from her friend and took Rose from Roxton, he, also, put his arms around Veronica.  
  
"We're in this together, you know. We've always handled our troubles a day at a time, and this is no different. Remember, one for all and all for one!"  
  
Veronica gave him a watery smile. "I know," she nodded.  
  
"Excellent!" Roxton said heartily, taking the baby back from his wife. "Now, let's catch up with those rascals. If they think they can run faster then their parents, well, they have another think coming. Ready, Rosie? Hold on tight. Let's go!"  
  
The four friends, thrown together by fate--bonded together by love and friendship, ran, laughing, into the familiar jungle.  
  
THE END 


End file.
